Papua New Guinea need’s to work on developing a very strong, deep, and a robust relationship with Indonesia, says the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru who will be leading a trade delegation to Indonesia at the end of March this year.
Minister Maru said that PNG should have a strong relationship with Indonesia. Nearly 50 years of nationhood was a waste of political ties with the neighbouring country. He further stated that Indonesia is the country we should have focused on building a trade and investment relationship and a stronger political and economic cooperation with.
He went on to state that PNG now have to take full advantage of the leadership provided by Prime Minister James Marape who visited Indonesia in 2022 and the recent visit by Indonesian President, Joko Widodo last year and his offer of aid and other support to PNG
Minister Maru said that Indonesia is home to more than 260 million people and with GDP of about US$1 trillion, it is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 16th largest economy in the world.
He further highlighted that Indonesia’s economy has accelerated over the past 10 years, with GDP growth averaging more than 5.7 per cent a year.
The Minister indicated that Indonesia has so many multibillion and multimillion local companies in all sectors of their economy and they have very sound policies that have really contributed to the growth of their economy.
Minister Maru further stated that the work to really deepen the relationship with Indonesia will start with him leading a delegation to Indonesia to meet their new Government and their new Trade Minister, to build a person-to-person relationship as well as a business-to-business relationship. The visit will include, visits to their industries, meet potential investors, and to learn from their policies in mining, petroleum, downstream processing, and policies on trade and industry.
Maru pointed out that this year he wants to firmly establish the PNG-Indonesia Business Council on both sides and have the first ever Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Conference hosted in Indonesia.
An invitation is also extended to Indonesia to host a Trade Fair in Papua New Guinea; this in turn will start the process towards building a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.
