Marape discusses shared interests with New Zealand PM

PRIME Minister James Marape is discussing shared regional interests and New Zealand’s support to the PNG electrification partnership on his state visit to Wellington.
He held talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Auckland last Friday.
“PNG and New Zealand continue to maintain a warm and pleasant relationship, spanning well over four decades,” he said. Marape thanked New Zealand for its assistance in the evacuation of 17 PNG students attending universities in Wuhan City, China after the outbreak of the coronavirus (codiv-19).
He said New Zealand’s humanitarian gesture “goes to show that New Zealand and PNG share robust and strong relations”.
“Also, New Zealand’s efforts in ensuring the Bougainville Peace Agreement was upheld in Bougainville from 2001 till the referendum in 2019, through its deployment of NZ police personnel throughout the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, (shows) that NZ has played a vital role in the peace process and is clearly a significant partner in the Pacific region.”
Marape said the PNG Government looked forward to adopting the New Zealand public service model because it was one of the countries which enjoyed the best public service.
Marape led his delegation to visit the PNG people employed as fruit-pickers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme in Hawke’s Bay.