PNG-China relationship must be built on trade and investment: Minister
The National | 10 March 2023
PNG-China relationship must be built on trade and investment: Minister
INTERNATIONAL Trade and Investment Minister Richard Maru says Papua New Guinea’s relationship with China will be anchored in trade and investment.
Maru said this during a bilateral meeting with Chinese ambassador Zeng Fanhua on Wednesday.
He said China was an economic powerhouse in the Asia-Pacific and PNG needed to establish a closer relationship with the country for mutual benefit.
“We are now walking across Asia and entering into meaningful partnership with China and other countries in the region to secure export markets for our products, including liquefied natural gas (LNG),” he said.
“Our focus is now on large scale investment in our proposed special economic zones (SEZs) in the country.”
Maru said the Government was also looking at the possibility of establishing a permanent trade mission in Shanghai with a honorary trade commission in Shenzhen.
Maru said the trade mission and trade commission in Shanghai and Shenzhen would complement the Government’s desire to have a direct flight from Port Moresby to Shanghai.
Meanwhile, ambassador Zeng assured Maru that the Chinese government would closely with the national government to establish the proposed trade mission in Shanghai.
A consultant committee has been selected to take the lead in completing a feasibility study into the viability of having a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Global experiences show such negotiations can take up to 10 years to complete before a free trade agreement is finalised and signed.
