Prime Minister James Marape’s visit to Israel has been fruitful as he opened the new embassy in Jerusalem and secured investors for downstream processing and Special Economic Zone.
Prime Minister Marape and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have jointly opened the new fully-fledged Papua New Guinea Embassy in Jerusalem yesterday.
Among four other countries, Papua New Guinea is the first Pacific Island nation to establish a diplomatic mission in Israeli capital.
“Papua New Guinea chose to join United States, Kosovo, Guatamala and Honduras in opening its Embassy in Jerusalem in acknowledgement of our Judeo-Christian worldview that Jerusalem is historically the headquarter of the nation and the people of Israel,” said Prime Minister Marape.
“Papua New Guinea highly values its bilateral relations which, over the years have been based on strong Judeo-Christian values and common, shared interests.
“We have trust in the Nation of Israel to ensure that all citizens are in the sovereignty of Israel and the millions who come in contact with Israel every year will enjoy the hospitality of the Government and the People of Israel.
“Israel is no ordinary nation. From the Judeo-Christian worldview, it is the foundation nation in giving to the world many of the moral principles that we carry as Christians today.
“PNG has a lot to gain from the Israeli economy through its high technology systems in Agriculture, Education, Finance and Resource and Infrastructure Development. This will include downstream processing of rice and fisheries products which the Israeli development agency known as MASHAV has indicated its desire to assist.”
Prime Minister Marape thanked the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government for facilitating the establishment of the new PNG embassy as it will ensure smooth flow of the relationship between the two nations and support to socio-economic development.
In reciprocating the gesture, Prime Minister Marape said a land will be identified for ground breaking in Port Moresby and made available for Israeli investors to develop Israeli-PNG Special Economic Zone.
