Dihm: Govt departments must lead in APEC preparations

With the 2018 APEC Leaders’ Summit two years away, Government departments must work together to successfully deliver the event to be hosted in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Foreign Affairs secretary William Dihm highlighted this during an APEC briefing for the Department of Foreign Affairs recently.

The briefing was carried out by the APEC Authority, APEC Secretariat and PNG Defence.

As a lead up to APEC 2018, the briefing was timely for the Foreign Affairs officers to plot where the department will come into play in the roadmap together with other line departments and agencies.

Dihm highlighted that working in a ‘whole-of-Government approach' means they have less institutional capacity.

He said so they have to come together, both the government departments and specialized agencies to take the lead role.

Presentations were made by John Young from the APEC Authority on logistics, Lahui Ako from the APEC Secretariat on 2018 policy priorities and Col. Siale Diro presented on deliverables and safety and security outlook.

Picture: Standing L –R: John Young, Lahui Ako, William Dihm, Col. Siale Diro. Courtesy of Department of Foreign Affairs

Author: 
Quintina Naime