Papua New Guinea is set to host its first ever Special Economic Zone Summit this May in Port Moresby.
The two-day event was announced in a press conference today by Minister for International Trade and Industry Minister, Richard Maru.
Supported by Vice Minister Kessy Sawang, they have informed the country that the SEZ summit will take place from May 8 to 9 in Port Moresby.
Minister Maru urged Papua New Guineans to apply as soon as possible because there are only 370 spaces for those intending to participate.
“We are going to bring the global experts from around the world, and over 370 delegates from PNG into Stanley where our government will for the 1st time define what SEZs are, types of SEZ and trends around the world in the last 40 years when SEZ were…around the world,” said Minister Maru
He said PNG already has a number of SEZs but people do not know, like the industrial park in Malahang. Like the PMIZ, that was an attempt to establish an Industrial park.
“The Marape government in 2019 passed a Special Economic Zone Legislation which provided the framework for the first time to establish a special economic zone. There are different types of economic zones and that should be explained during the summit,” Mr Maru said.
The Minister emphasized that there will be 370 spaces for Papua New Guineans who are interested to learn about the SEZ during the summit.
The purpose of the summit is to explain to Papua New Guineans what SEZs are, the different types, the global experience from countries like China, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia; which countries have been very successful, why they are successful and what PNG can learn from their experiences.
He added that this is what will be covered on the first day of the summit. The second day will be the PNG day where for the first time a new policy for SEZ is going to be proposed by the Ministry.
A draft of the policy will be provided to attendees to review and comment, including international delegates.