Bogari: Chancery to strengthen US ties

BILATERAL ties between Papua New Guinea and the United States will be strengthened with the building of a new US chancery.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the chancery took place yesterday at Harbour City in Konedobu, Port Moresby.
The historic occasion was witnessed by acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lucy Bogari, US Ambassador Teddy Taylor, US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Cecil Haney, Papua New Guinea Defence Force commander Brig-Gen Francis Agwi and other dignitaries.
Bogari said it was a significant diplomatic event on PNG soil, especially with the new government taking office last week.
“This day marks a significant milestone in the bilateral relations between PNG and US,” she said. 
“It is a development that PNG  whole-heartedly welcomes.
“The PNG government views the decision by the United States of America to build a chancery for the embassy in PNG as a clear statement of the US long-term commitment to the PNG-US relations.
“This follows an equally significant decision by the US government to locate a US Aid office for the Pacific here, again a reflection of PNG-US growing bilateral engagement.”
She added that the steadily increasing level of capital by US companies in PNG, notably in the mining, petroleum and oil and gas sectors, has been a major driver in the growth of the relationship between the two countries.
“The most notable of US investment being ExxonMobil, the developer of the LNG project, making the US the single largest investor in the country,” she said.
Bogari said the US government was a major contributor towards PNG’s efforts to protect biodiversity through the International Coral Reef Initiative, which focused on preserving coral reefs, fisheries and food security.
She said other areas in which the US continued to support the country was in human resource development, the public sector and most recently, supporting the Electoral Commission deliver the 2012 general election.