James Marape

The Government is fully committed to assembling a determined and formidable team of athletes.

Prime Minister James Marape, an advocate for the unifying power of sports, emphasized the remarkable ability of sports to unite nations, forge friendships among youth and athletes, and promote healthy lifestyles.

He said the Government wholeheartedly endorsed the PNG team and called upon the athletes, Team PNG management, and the PNG Olympic Committee to prepare diligently, upholding the nation's honour.

He said the reason being the government has yet to mitigate the nation's youth bulge pandemic, create safe communities, leverage its geopolitical strength to rapidly create mass employment through foreign direct investment, and promote sustainable resource management that benefits landowners.

The meeting was also attended by the Senior Vice President of Digicel PNG Limited, Lorna McPherson.

During the meeting, Ms. Brady expressed her satisfaction with the current Telstra services in Papua New Guinea, highlighting the successful integration of Digicel PNG Limited into the Telstra Agreement. She proudly shared that Telstra committed to deliver 115 towers nationwide and is on track to provide improved services to rural areas by March 2024.

He also praised the Government for hosting the inaugural PNG-Asia Investment forum in Hong Kong and opening of a trade mission in Shenzhen, in the Republic of China.

A team will visit Shenzhen in the coming weeks to finalize  negotiations on the office space for the trade mission and to cost out the whole setup and operation.

The position of the trade commissioner will be advertised  as soon as possible.

The visit marks a significant milestone as it will be the first time a French president has visited an independent country in the Pacific.

PM Marape views President Macron's visit as a testament to Papua New Guinea's growing global connectivity and prominence on the international stage.

He expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities the visit will bring to strengthen ties between the two nations and promote bilateral cooperation.

“Not at this stage, for me I must not break any law that governs our country and so measuring up to what is expected from both sides and there proposal too is not way off but within reach again wording must be something my cabinet and parliament must approve and knowing what is expected on my side I think my team,” stated Marape.

The Prime Minister acknowledged then Foreign Minister, Justin Tkatchenko and Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso on the presentative and the establishment made in regards to the treaty as the exchange is currently going well.

Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, was also in attendance of the Korea-Pacific Islands Summit and spoke to PM Marape on the margins of the meeting in regards to the Treaty.

The bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of South Korea, Han Duck-soo and key leaders, was significant. The PM emphasized that PNG could learn many lessons from the third biggest economy.

The momentous occasion was also attended by Bank of China Chairman, Ge Haijiao, and Chinese Ambassador to PNG, Zeng Fanhua. Members of parliament and the private sector were also there in support.

Marape commended and welcomed the Bank of China for stepping into developing economies like PNG because they only have offices in bigger economies like Australian and New Zealand.

His announcement of minister and departmental meet also includes the forum with governors to address more functions in the Provincial level.

“We will go through what we have done in the first six months, what we have done since government formation last August for us to report to the country in the upcoming sitting of parliament,” said the Prime Minister. “The country expects to know what we have done thus far, myself Deputy Prime Minister and senior ministers will meet to ensure the country’s report card is ready.”