Fiji-PNG councils lauded

 By GYNNIE KERO

THE PNG-Fiji business councils were established to promote trade, investment and enhance trade relations between the two countries, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says.

He said the councils were the conduit between the business communities and governments of Fiji and PNG. 

Bainimarama said during a breakfast hosted by the PNG business council in Port Moresby yesterday “the councils are giving individual businesses a collective voice to express concerns and provide an input into government decision making”. 

He said the councils were an important component of the overall effort to encourage trade, investment and technical and economic cooperation between Fiji and PNG. 

“The Fijian government values the role of these business councils in providing a platform for the exchange of ideas and contributing those ideas to the national policy debate.

“Business is a key component in assisting government get our policy settings right. We all see trade and investment as the key generator of development and the means to provide our peoples with adequate and sustainable livelihoods,” Bainimarama said.

“This aspect of our enhanced relationship as nations should be valued. Papua New Guinea and Fiji – their governments and business communities – are combining their strengths. 

“We can have more economic muscle. We can be taken more seriously in global forums. We can take a leadership role that enhances not only our own interests but the interests of our smaller and less developed neighbours,” he said.

“And the revival of the Fiji-PNG and PNG-Fiji Business Councils is a key component in that overall vision.”

Bainimarama said the Fijian trade and investment mission currently in PNG was the biggest Fiji had ever mounted.