PAPUA New Guinea stands to secure advanced technology transfers and paid international agricultural internships following a bilateral meeting held on Tuesday morning in Port Moresby.
Head of Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV), Ambassador Eynat Schlein, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Hon. James Marape at his office in Waigani, where the leaders established a direct economic partnership link designed to add value to the agriculture sector through targeted human resource deployments and infrastructure investments.
Prime Minister Marape used the opportunity to reaffirm PNG’s historical and ideological alliance with Israel, noting that national solidarity is rooted in a shared cultural foundation.
He attributed the deep connection to the “strong Judo-Christian values that are shared by the people of PNG”.
“PNG always stands with Israel in thoughts and prayers, especially in this time of continued unrest,” PM Marape stated.
The Prime Minister reiterated his standing invitation for Israel to open an embassy in Port Moresby, offering state land and local construction assistance.
“There’s no point of us having an embassy in Jerusalem only. We’re inviting you to also have an embassy here,” he urged. “I did mention to Prime Minister Netanyahu when I briefly saw him in New York during the 81st UNGA that we will reciprocate by finding land and working towards helping you set up your base here.”
Ambassador Schlein, who is also the Deputy Director for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, clarified that the opening of Israel’s regional embassy in Suva, Fiji, is part of a “sequential process” and assured the Prime Minister that it does not preclude establishing a permanent diplomatic base in Port Moresby.
Prime Minister Marape instructed his office to coordinate the selection of up to 300 local agricultural college students for the 11-month paid internship program in Israel, offered by Ambassador Schlein.
“When we were at MASHAV centre in Israel during my visit in 2023, we talked about this. Unfortunately, our responsible department did not progress it. So my office will personally handle this.”
Under the program, third- and fourth-year agriculture students will receive practical training on operational Israeli farms, returning to Papua New Guinea with specialized technical skills to apply within the sector.
Prime Minister Marape clarified that, eventually, PNG would like to deploy up to skilled youth over the next five to 10 years to work directly within Israeli industries, agriculture, and associated manufacturing sectors.
Ambassador Schlein also explained Israel’s public-private partnership (PPP) triangle model to Papua New Guinea, with an initial government-to-government (G2G) memorandum of understanding delivered to the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday.
The infrastructure model allows vetted Israeli firms to bring external commercial or multilateral financing to execute critical local utilities, such as immediate water desalination plants or any other projects that PNG may choose to introduce.
The cooperation also schedules a training program for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and women entrepreneurs beginning in November in Port Moresby. It is being led by senior Israeli professionals.
Prime Minister Marape confirmed that national compliance and inter-departmental logistics for all incoming Israeli operations will be coordinated directly through his executive office to achieve a faster turnaround time.