The Prime Minister, Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP, arrived in the city of Da Nang, in Vietnam, for the 2017 APEC Leaders’ Summit yesterday.
On his arrival, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the APEC policy agenda that will help boost growth in key sectors of the Papua New Guinea economy.
“APEC is an important forum for growth and development in our region, and in the coming year will be even more important for Papua New Guinea when we host Leaders from around the region.
“The whole focus of the APEC Leaders’ Week is to strengthen our capacity to trade and to grow our economies.
“Through APEC we have the opportunity to generate more business, and that in turn creates more jobs.
“As a developing economy in APEC, Papua New Guinea also has the opportunity to strengthen capacity and skills in key sectors around the country.
“APEC is more than a single meeting each year, but it has a broad agenda covering agriculture, fisheries, women in the economy, transport and many other sectors that are vital for Papua New Guinea’s growth.
“Ultimately our work through APEC in these sectors is delivering direct benefits for our people.
“This APEC meeting will have a strong focus on adopting better digital technologies.
“For Papua New Guinea, expanding into the digital age, particularly for remote and rural communities is very important.”
The week-long series of APEC meetings also includes the 2017 APEC CEO Summit at which the Prime Minister will deliver an address.
“We have a number of Papua New Guinea business leaders who have come to Vietnam with our delegation.
“At the APEC CEO Summit our business representatives will be working to build better links with companies in Viet Nam and around the region.”
The Prime Minister is accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Rimbink Pato MP, and APEC Minister, Hon. Justin Tkatchenko MP.
Source: Media Statement
