September 25, 2022
Minister Maru visits Japan to attend the Funeral of Former Prime Minister of Japan, Late Mr. Shinzo Abe Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard arrived in Tokyo, Japan over the weekend as part of the delegation who will be representing Papua New Guinea at the Funeral of Former Prime Minister of Japan, Late Shinzo Abe which will be held on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.Late Mr. Abe visited Papua New Guinea in 2018 for the APEC meeting and prior to that, in 2014, he visited the Peace Park in Wewak, East Sepik as part of his three-day bilateral visit to the country.Minister Maru described Late Mr. Abe as a ‘Great Leader’.“I am really sad to hear about his passing and how he passed on,” said Minister Maru.“I treasure the two meetings with him that I attended both in his office in Tokyo and during his visit to Wewak,” he said.While in Tokyo, Minister Maru will also be using the opportunity to meet with the Trade Ministry of Japan to discuss how Papua New Guinea and Japan could deepen their relationship in terms of trade and investment and areas of cooperation and more trade especially in Fisheries, Forestry and the increasing our export of coffee and cocoa to Japan.“Japan is one of the most important trading partners that we’ve had for a very long time, and we highly value this relationship that we have,” said Minister Maru.Minister Maru, together with the Prime Minister will also been meeting Japanese investors and potential investors with a clear agenda to bring in more foreign investment from Japan into Papua New Guinea.Minister Maru will be traveling back to Papua New Guinea via Singapore and the Philippines so he could have initial bilateral trade talks with the Trade Ministers of these two countries as well as potential investors there. The high priority on his agenda will be to canvass potential investors in rice and other agriculture products both in primary production and downstream processing. He will also be seeking more technical support for the Special Economic Zone Authority and the Securities Commission.
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