Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru has invited Indonesia through its Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, His Excellency Adriana Supandy to host the first ever historical PNG-Indonesia Trade Meeting this year in Jayapura, Indonesia.
“I want the first historic Trade Meeting between our two countries to happen this year in Jayapura in March,” said Minister Maru during his meeting with Ambassador Supandy on Friday last week.
“If Indonesia agrees to have the Trade Meeting, then we can put together an agenda for the meeting and also put together a technical working committee to organize the meeting. Our Trade Team will not only be made up of Government Departments and Agencies but also representatives from East Sepik, West Sepik and Western Province,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru said he will meet with the Indonesian Trade Minister in his follow-up trip to Jakarta after the Trade Meeting to have their first bilateral meeting, mainly to discuss Indonesia President Joko Widodo’s visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG) this year and hold initial talks on working together to develop a framework to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement between PNG and Indonesia.
“We don’t want President Widodo to come for just another visit, we want him to come with the private sector of Indonesia to hold first Indonesian Trade Fair in Port Moresby where big companies of Indonesia can come and promote their products, including their banks. President Widodo can open the Trade Fair as part of the program for his visit. That is one agenda that I want to discuss with the Indonesian Trade Minister and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and their Private Sector,” said Minister Maru.
“Many Papua New Guineans do not know what products Indonesia produces and one way through which they can know is when they walk through an Indonesian Trade Fair. We want to start marketing Indonesian goods here and of course our goods to Indonesia,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru also added that PNG and Indonesia needed to quickly look at opening flights and shipping services between the two countries, and also look at having a sports relationship to build people to people relationship in addition to our students going to study in Indonesian Universities and Colleges.
“When I first took office last year, I made a bold statement that Indonesia will be the highest trade priority of Papua New Guinea in this term of parliament. My Ministry and Department will work to translate my statement to concrete and tangible actions and results,”
