April 1, 2022
THE PNG Commissioner General for Expo2020 and Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union His Excellency Joshua Kalinoe described Papua New Guinea’s participation in the Dubai Expo2020 as the ‘journey of success’.
He said this at the Pavilion Closing Dinner that he hosted to thank all the pavilion, staff, partners, stakeholders and the Papua New Guinea (PNG) community in Dubai on Monday, March 27.
Ambassador Kalinoe said the staff of the pavilion, led by the Deputy Commissioner General Mrs. Jacinta-Warakai Manua had done their country proud.
“The staff has lived up to the expectation of their people and country as they worked very long hours, 24/7, not only in pavilion duties but also planning and executing trade and investment events during the expo led thematic weeks,” said Ambassador Kalinoe.
“PNG was one of the countries that actively participated in the expo led programs within the context of the pavilion’s strategic participation framework that was approved for implementation by the Marape Cabinet,” he said.
Ambassador Kalinoe said the team had listened, shared and learnt experiences and innovations by attending the events that were organized by the Expo2020 Secretariat and from visiting other pavilions.
“Apart from speaking to thousands of people who went through our pavilion from the four corners of the world, the pavilion staff also made friends with individuals and colleagues from both the Pacific Islands region and other parts of the World. Expo2020 was a truly a one world-village experience,” said Ambassador Kalinoe.
“For PNG, this experience has opened up visibility and created new opportunities for trade, investment and innovations that we would accommodate into our mix of variables in Living in Balance with Nature, which was the catch word we used throughout the pavilion’s organized programs,” he added.
Ambassador Kalinoe said the pavilion journey was also used to create visibility since Papua New Guinea is not well known throughout the world.
“Click Media, which is a Dubai based media platform partnered with us and the PNG Pavilion story has been told throughout the Arab World and parts of Europe, Asia, North America,” he said.
The pavilion journey ended at midnight but the journey to connect the world and keep alive some of the outcomes and connections using the Dubai and United Arab Emirates (UAE) experience would continue.
“Through the pavilion journey we have learnt that the UAE is truly a springboard for PNG to jump from to access opportunities in the East, West, North and the South,” said Ambassador Kalinoe.
