PM to meet Chinese president

PRIME Minister James Marape will have a 50-minute meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today, as he tries to get more Chinese and Asian investors into the country.
“I will have a one-on-one meeting with President Jinping with over 150 world leaders arriving in Beijing for the Road and Belt Initiative meeting.
“PNG has been given 50 minutes of the President’s time to have a one-on-one meeting.
“That connotes something to all of you who have a business in PNG.
Marape said during the PNG Asia Investment Conference in Hong Kong yesterday that PNG had a secure investment environment.
“The next 100 years will be Asia.
“It’s Asia 100 years,” he said.
“Free market capital environment will be a big driver.
“We have secured markets in where it matters most.
“If the 1800s belong to the European nations, if the 1900s belong to the Great United States of America, the next 100 years will be Asia’s.
“It will be fuelled by business opportunities prevalent in China as well as the free market.
“The capital environment we have in Hong Kong will be a big driver in attraction.
“If you look beyond China, you have the 1.4 billion people in India.
“We also have our close partner Indonesia, our traditional partners Japan, Philippines.
“The networking is huge for PNG. It all requires PNG to step up and make use of the opportunities.
“PNG is investor-friendly.
“When we became independent in 1975, our economy was under US$1 billion.
“Today, we are over US$40 billion (about K147.6 billion).”