Papua New Guinea is ready to host the APEC Summit in 2018.
Minister for Sports, National Events and APEC, Justin Tkatchenko stressed yesterday during the announcement of the 10th Ministerial Meeting which will be one of the major meets held in PNG leading up to the APEC Summit in 2018.
“As far as we’re concerned, procedures and guideline are being followed to make sure PNG will be ready in 2018,”says Tkatchenko.
He states that the biggest issue at hand is not the infrastructure or preparation on the ground; it’s more of the security aspect that we have to get right.
“We will be in constant dialogue with our partners to ensure that these security aspects are covered for their criteria, security concerns and expectation as well.”
He adds that everything is moving forward very fast and the staffing will be increasing over the next coming months through to the lead up to APEC.
“There are no issues at this point in time in the way we’re moving forward and the initial work that needs to be done have been covered.”
Meanwhile, he says with the elections coming and if there was a chance for a change in government, the main aim and objective is that initial ground work is in place and this will not change the preparations leading up to APEC.
“All the management, consultants and staff are in place and secure to carry the work on no matter whom the next government or prime minister will be,” says Tkatchenko.