PNG, China sign K150 million scholarship grant

National

MORE Papua New Guineans will be able to receive scholarships to study in China following an agreement between Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
O’Neill said a grant of K150 million was signed to release about 2500 scholarships to people in the Pacific region including PNG.
O’Neill said the bulk of the scholarship would go to PNG because of its population and size. “These are unique opportunities for people who are trying to support our kids to be educated. So let’s take advantage of it,” he said.
“Those who want to go and study in China, please let us know so we can get the Chinese embassy to screen our children and they can send them to go and study there. These are strong developments for PNG,” O’Neill said.
Meanwhile, he said the Russians also wanted to engage with PNG on training opportunities.
There are plans to open an embassy in PNG and PNG to open an office in Moscow.
“Lots of young people have got strong feelings to Russia because of early engagements in the Soviet Union days,” he said.
“In fact Papua New Guineans have gone to study in Moscow and lived there. It’s time that they used the language that they have been taught and it will an advantage for them to continue to be engaged.
“We had a strong relationships with Russia and Republic of Korea. We’ve established bilateral relations with these countries. But because of distance and time we have not been able to build on those relationships.”