Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru said that he is keen to push Papua New Guinea (PNG) to pursue trade and investment relationship with its closet neighbor, Indonesia. He said this during his meeting with the Indonesian Vice Minister for Trade, Hon. Jerry Sambuaga on the margins of the APEC Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand.
“Our people go to the border to trade with Indonesia; there is big trade happening there, but our two Governments have not made the time to enter a formal trade and investment partnership and relationship. That discussion needed to start, and it started today,” said Minister Maru.
“We had not built a trade and investment relationship with Indonesia in the past. This was our serious mistake in my view and one that I want to fix in my term as the Minister for International Trade and Investment. So, when I first took office, I said that our highest priority in terms of trade and investment will be with Indonesia in the next five years- that will be PNG’s number one trade and investment priority,” said Minister Maru.
“The lowest hanging fruit for us is putting up powerlines from Vanimo to the border (Wutung) so we can start to buy electricity from Indonesia. That is the first product that Indonesia can sell to us as we embark on this relationship that we never had before,” he said.
“We have also declared war on the export of raw materials; we do not want to export raw materials. The Indonesian companies can come and invest in this space and sell back to Indonesia. We want to see more investment in cattle, oil palm, and even rice. We have mining and gas projects as well. There are lot of opportunities for investments there, but Indonesia has not tapped into our opportunities, and we have not marketed our opportunities to Indonesia,” Minister Maru added.
Minister Maru told Vice Minister Sambuaga that it was important for the two countries to look into a study on the viability of establishing airline service and cargo-shipping service between PNG and Indonesia.
“No business can be done between PNG and Indonesia without the airline and shipping services. We are keen on air and shipping service between our two countries,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru also requested for Indonesia to offer more scholarship programs for Papua New Guineans to attend universities and colleges in Indonesia so there would be people to people contact established between the two countries.
Vice Minister Sambuaga will be visiting PNG, specifically Vanimo with his team early next year to see the trade and investment opportunities available. The two Ministers will also be meeting there to plan the visit of the Indonesian President and to discuss the trade and investment roadshow in Port Moresby.
“We would like Indonesia to host the biggest trade and investment roadshow in PNG when their President comes to visit next year. During the roadshow, the Indonesian companies can come and market their products so Papua New Guineans can get to know their products and services,” said Minister Maru.
Meanwhile, Indonesia was happy to learn about PNG’s plan to establish a Trade Mission in Jakarta next year.
