Papua New Guinea’s Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru has assured investors in Asia that his government has its sights set on free trade agreements with China and Indonesia.

He said his ministry, in tandem with a new parliamentary committee, would look into the “impediments to business”, with the aim to ease such disincentives to investors coming into the country in all sectors.

“We need to reduce the cost of doing business. Our Parliament last week established a new committee which is tasked to look at how we can reduce the difficulties in doing business and the committee has been established for the first time and they will look into
that aspect,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG trade reports

“How do we make it easier — that aspect of business and the cost of doing business?

“We are now going to undertake a 6-month study on the viability of having a free trade agreement with China.

“I’m working to be in Indonesia in the coming weeks to start the discussions with the trade minister of Indonesia. We want to also undertake the study of Papua New Guinea looking at the viability of a free trade agreement with Indonesia,” Maru said.

He said PNG was serious about growth and economic partnership with the two large economies.

Maru reiterated that while the extractive sectors did raise revenue, they did not generate jobs except in their construction stage.

“Fisheries, forestry, hospitality, tourism — that is where the big jobs are.

“We will start putting trade commissions in cities with trade commissioners right around the world,” he added.

Republished with permission from the PNG Post-Courier.

Papua New Guinea’s Trade Minister Richard Maru has complained that his country’s trade deal with Australia has been skewed in Canberra’s favour for decades, and suggests the country will trade more with China.

Minister Maru said Beijing should be PNG’s focus for trade and investment opportunities because not enough was being done to assist PNG’s agriculture exports to Australia.

Maru is particularly unhappy with agriculture exports, which account for less than two percent of PNG’s exports to Australia, while minerals dominate.

• READ MORE: Other PNG trade reports

“Enough is enough,” he said. “Starting this year, we are moving on. We will partner with whatever country that will help us achieve that.

“We are friends to all and enemies to none. We are not interested in geopolitics.

“Our main priority is securing the future of our people.”

Australia is supporting bolstering PNG’s agriculture exports, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year promising assistance to improve the biosecurity regime that would enable farmers and producers to access international markets.

To deepen trade with China, a feasibility study is underway to assess the possibility of a free trade agreement (FTA).

While Australia is PNG’s largest trade partner, China is a close second, coupled with PNG enjoying the largest trade surplus of any of its other trade partners.

Australia is also pursuing an FTA with Port Moresby, with its own feasibility study to be concluded this month.

Bougainville flexes legal muscles
Meanwhile, the President of the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville says his government will not allow foreign investors to breach its laws to exploit its people and resources.

President Ishmael Toroama made the statement as the Bougainville Executive Council refused to grant a mining licence application for a joint-venture involving Wyndale Holdings and its local partners.

The joint venture wanted to mine in the Eivo/Torau areas as well as the Jaba River middle to lower tailings areas.

The Bougainville government said in a statement that Wyndale was a private Australian company with links to Australian Nic Zuks which, it said, claimed to have been issued mining licences by the autonomous government.

President Toroama said the applicants failed to meet the requirements provided by the Bougainville Mining Act 2015.

He said the ABG would not entertain companies and individuals which used “duplicitous means” to exploit Bougainville’s mineral resources.

The President also cautioned investors to be wary of being misled and that the ABG would not be held liable for losses incurred as a result of fraudulent misrepresentations.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is set to make a state visit to Papua New Guinea next month.

The one-day visit is scheduled for July 6 and comes after PNG Prime Minister James Marape’s own state visit to Indonesia in March 2022.

“Papua New Guinea will be honoured to host Indonesian President Widodo next month,” Marape said.

• READ MORE: Yamin Kogoya: 60 years ago, Indonesia invaded West Papua with guns. 60 years later, they’re still ruling with guns
• Other PNG-Indonesia reports

The two leaders are expected to discuss economic relations, as Papua New Guinea focuses on maintaining its relations with countries in the region.

Prime Minister Marape was in South Korea where he discussed new trade opportunities, and on Thursday he officiated at the inauguration of Bank of China representative office in Port Moresby.

The visit from President Widodo follows recent visits to Port Moresby from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and other Pacific leaders.

Marape added that he wants the focus of formal talks to shift from border issues to trade, business-to-business relations and people-to-people relations.

PNG and Indonesia established formal diplomatic ties in 1976 and Indonesia played a key role in PNG’s admission into the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group.

Parkop condemns ‘ignoring crisis’
The issue of West Papua human rights violations and calls for self-determination remains an issue for PNG’s civil society.

In December 2021, Powes Parkop, governor of PNG’s national capital, said the government should not keep “ignoring the crisis” in the neighbourng Indonesian-controlled half of New Guinea.

In a series of questions in Parliament to then Foreign Minister Soroi Eoe, Parkop described the government as having done little to hold Indonesia to account for decades of human rights abuses in West Papua.

“Hiding under a policy of ‘Friends to All, Enemy to None’ might be okay for the rest of the world, but it is total capitulation to Indonesian aggression and illegal occupation,” Parkop said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has flagged a possible partnership with Indonesian state-owned petroleum corporation Pertamina as the western Pacific country deals with the current global surge in fuel prices, reports The National.

Marape, who returned from visiting Indonesia today with a delegation for trade talks, met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday as PNG looks for alternative sources of fuel.

“I remain confident that our practical discussions and the culmination of the various memorandum of understandings that will be signed will greatly complement PNG’s future socio-economic agenda and reap tangible outcomes,” Marape said after his arrival in Jakarta on Wednesday.

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Marape said his visit was at the invitation of Widodo and acknowledged that Indonesia and Australia were PNG’s closest bilateral partners.

“While I have made important strides in the PNG-Australia relationship, I hope to strengthen the PNG-Indonesian relationship,” he said.

Marape said apart from the usual discussions on traditional issues relating to border management and combating cross-border crime, drug smuggling and terrorism, the talks would focus on other strategic opportunities for the two countries.

“The traditional issues are important but these are the traditional bilateral issues which are recurring in nature,” he said.

Strategic importance
“There is a place for those, but it is important that we use the opportunity to canvas other issues which are of strategic importance to us.”

Marape said the visit would focus on business, trade and investment opportunities and capacity building of human resources, among other practical and meaningful outcomes to complement PNG’s development aspirations.

Marape addressed the PNG-Indonesia Business and Investment Seminar yesterday where he was expected to invite Indonesian investors to develop downstream processing facilities in PNG to add value to its vast natural resources for export to Indonesia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other global markets.

Marape was accompanied by wife Rachael, four ministers, one governor, senior government officials, and a business delegation on the official visit who engaged in business and investment exchanges while government officials discussed sectoral issues with their Indonesian counterparts.

The PNG delegation returned today and Marape flew to Wapenamanda Airport, Enga province. He travelled to remote Maramuni to open the Wabag-Maramuni Road, part of the Enga Sepik Highway.

Republished with permission.