APEC countries are seeing some economic recovery as investors and traders look towards a positive 24 months.
Against this backdrop, leaders of APEC countries will be discussing ways to take full advantage of the positive outlook.
For Papua New Guinea, the opportunities to learn from lessons experienced by Asian economies, are wide-ranging and include wider access to communication, fixing the mismatch between the skills shortage and training.
On Wednesday, November 8, Papua New Guinea’s APEC Minister, Justin Tktatchenko and Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, attended the second most important meeting for APEC in Vietnam.
The APEC Ministers Meeting brings together foreign ministers from 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region including the United States, Russia and China.
Both men are the center of attention this week as ministers of the county set to host the APEC next year.
Papua New Guinea will be furthering APEC Priorities in 2018 with discussions centered around greater access to digital technology, inclusiveness and globalization.
Apart from the main conference, Foreign Affairs Minister, Rimbink Pato has been holding spate bilateral meetings with various world leaders.
He met with Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop and is expected to meet with ministers from Vietnam, and other economies.
For APEC economies, the 2017-2018 period is crucial.
There already are signs of recovery with the region showing relatively good GDP growth of 3.9 percent compared to last year’s 3.3 percent.
According to APEC analysts, 3.9 percent is higher than the average growth of the global economy.
For Papua New Guinea, this means a slow but steady recovery that should see struggling businesses bounce back, but to the growth rates seen earlier in the decade.
Papua New Guinea joined APEC in 1994, but as a country, it hasn’t really taken full advantage of the benefits of being an APEC member.
In 2018, Port Moresby will play host to the leaders meeting and the Government, lead by the APEC Minister, and the Foreign Affairs Minister say they are looking at the opportunities that come with hosting such a meeting.
