PNG planning to open embassy in Israel

The National National
Finance and Planning Minister Rainbo Paita with Israel’s environment protection minister Idit Silman in New York, United States, last week – Picture supplied

PAPUA New Guinea plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem next year, says Finance and Planning Minister Rainbo Paita.
It was one of the 10 topics he discussed with Idit Silman, Israel’s Minister for Environment Protection, in New York, USA recently.
Paita said 10 potential areas of cooperation discussed included:

  • ENVIRONMENTAL protection, climate change, forestry and carbon trading;
  • ESTABLISHING a PNG embassy in Jerusalem, Israel in 2024 and a reciprocal arrangement for Israel in Papua New Guinea;
  • AGRICULTURE and Technology;
  • RESEARCH, Science, and innovation hubs;
  • RENEWABLE Energy;
  • COMPULSORY military service for youths;
  • WASTE management and water supply;
  • NATIONAL security and intelligence capacity;
  • LANGUAGE, cultural and heritage exchanges for people-to-people relations; and,
  • HIGHER education programme and research partnership.

“The meeting was a follow-up on the informal dialogue between Prime Minister James Marape and his former Israeli counterpart, current Opposition Leader, Yair Lapid, on the margins of last September’s United Nations General Assembly,” he said.
“We discussed a wide range of areas of mutual interest between our two countries.”