“Papua New Guinea’s commercial interest is not being compromised by the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA),” said Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru. “It will not affect trade and investment of the country.”
He made this statement during the parliament debating of DCA between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the United States (US) on July 14, 2023.
“There is no need to talk about unnecessary fear about DCA stopping PNG from trading with other countries like China because the biggest trading partners of China are two of America’s strongest allies- Australia and New Zealand.
“China is their biggest trading partner whilst knowing that they are the strongest allies to the US. So, there is no need for fear as DCA will not affect trade and investment of our country. It will elevate the USA-PNG bilateral relations to one of confidence and trust in all aspects of our relationship including our bilateral trade and investment relationships,” said Maru.
Minister Maru also clarified that what was signed was only a framework agreement and there were no details in terms of the cooperation.
Minister Maru added that such agreement had benefited other countries like Fiji.
“I was recently in London where I met the Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji and a Fijian Officer who told me that under an MOA that was signed between the Fijian Government and the British Government, Fiji has 1000 men stationed in the UK Defence Force at any one point in time who are trained, equipped and on the payroll of the UK Government,” he said.
“They even join the UN Peacekeeping Forces because they are very highly trained and equipped.”
Minister Maru also stated in his recent meeting with the US Trade Team during the APEC Trade Minister’s Meeting at Detroit in the US that apart from the DCA, the two countries should also enter into a Bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to further PNG-US bilateral trade and investment relations.