The Asia Pacific Economic Countries (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Forest (MMRF) meeting in Port Moresby it’s the first time APEC member nations have converged to Papua New Guinea.
The meeting is a lead up to the 2018 APEC leaders meeting.
APEC member nations accounts for half of the world trade.
The are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.
Chair of the MMRF meeting and Forest Minister Douglas Tomuriesa when welcoming his counterparts said “this third APEC meeting for ministers responsible for forestry is the first ever APEC ministerial level meeting to be hosted by PNG since joined the APEC Forum in 1993.”
He said that the meeting will discuss ways of finding the best sustainable forestry practice.
“We all have come today to share our ideas as we discuss the topics on the agenda of maintaining forests and managing forests for the greater benefits for all of our people within the member economies.
“Equally our forests have an important role in the economic development of the country and of course for mitigating the effects of climate change,” added Tomuriesa.
The three day meeting was opened today (Tuesday).