TRANSPORT and Civil Aviation Minister Hon. Walter Schnaubelt has attended high-level dialogue on sustainable transport at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) transport forum in Jarkata.
The forum started yesterday 4th September, 2023.
He was there upon invitation by the Indonesian Minister for Transportation, His Excellency Budi Karya Sumadi.
In his address to the ASEAN, Minister Schnaubelt thanked the host of the transport dialogue, His Excellency Budi Karya Sumadi for inviting him to participate as one of the panelists in Session 1-Sustainable Transport in ASEAN toward Zero Emission.
He told the forum that PNG’s participation at the 05th Pacific Energy & Transport Ministerial Meeting and the 10th APEC Transportation Ministerial Meeting in May 2023 advocated the same message on sustainable and inclusive transportation through collaboration with Governments, Private Sector and Development partners within the Asia Pacific Region and to share best practices, in its endeavor to mitigate and achieve low emissions from the transport operations.
Mr Schnaubelt’s recent participation at the 03rd Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-3) held in Fiji in August 2023 co-hosted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) discussed related issues with a desired outcome for the Weather Ready Pacific, under the Pacific Leaders endorsed Framework for the Resilient Development in the Pacific (2017-2030) and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific.
He also shared some initiatives that the current Marape/ Rosso Government is undertaking within the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry.
Minister Schnaubelt said the PNG Government’s Medium Term Development Plan IV (MTDP IV) outlines transport as a strategic priority area, with deliberate intervention programs.
“The Connect PNG initiative of the current government is to provide transport connectivity under the three modes of transportation (land, sea & air).
“Domestic strategic road network being improved and extended, 22 Strategic national airports being redeveloped and the main 16 ports being redeveloped under the Connect PNG initiative for the next 20 years.
“Bilateral Air Services Agreement with APEC Economies are being pursued for seamless travel post COVID, with recommencement of flights between Indonesia (Bali) and Palau.
“Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation emphasis the paramount importance for Service Providers within transport connectivity to be climate change resilient, as such PNG, my Ministry is pursuing Electric vehicle policy under E- mobility with PNG Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to combat carbon emissions and promote green growth and hence a climate change resilient economy, even though PNG emissions is minute compare to other large industrialized nations at present.
“The PNG Ports Corporation Limited is working on incorporating Green Port technologies in some of the 16 ports such as the Daru Port through grant funding from Australia (DFAT) which will be the first green port project.
“PNG Ports Ltd is also in discussions with the European Union and European Development Bank to install green port technologies for selected ports in PNG,” Mr Schnaubelt said.
“Minister Budi Sumadi hosted and chaired the High-Level Dialogue on Transportation in ASEAN on 04th September 2023 and congratulates Indonesia for assuming the Chairmanship of ASEAN 2023.”
