Better economic cooperation with New Zealand eyed

A RENEWED relationship with New Zealand should focus on areas of economic cooperation with less emphasis on traditional aid, says National Planning and Monitoring Minister Richard Maru.
This was one of several agenda pursued by Maru in his weeklong visit to New Zealand accompanied by a Government delegation.
Maru said Papua New Guinea looked forward to further bilateral discussions with New Zealand on the trade aspects of cooperation.
He said the aid landscape was changing and for PNG, there was a need to look beyond aid and towards economic cooperation prospects.
Potentials for cooperation through partnerships with the private sector will be assessed to get the best value of support from New Zealand’s aid programme to PNG.
Maru and the delegation met with New Zealand’s Peputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor on Tuesday.
They also met with the Ministry of Primary Industry, and Victoria University assistant vice-chancellor Luamanuvao Winnie Laban.
The PNG Government is in the process of finalising its medium-term development plan 3 to coincide with the expiry of the PNG-New Zealand Joint Commitment for Development (JCfD) this year.
The need to realign the New Zealand aid programme is timely and necessary in order to get the best value of support that is strategically building on the comparative strengths of New Zealand Maru said.
This is a key task for both governments in the lead-up to the high-level bilateral consultation in the later part of 2018, he said.