Relations, regional issues to be discussed

 NEW Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully will lead a delegation of aid officials and business people to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands this week.

Radio New Zealand reported that the companies travelling with the delegation represent a range of sectors including energy, infrastructure development and broadcasting as well as regional business organisations.

McCully said he would meet with PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and other ministers to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional issues, including PNG’s hosting of this year’s Pacific Islands Forum summit and New Zealand’s support for their hosting of APEC in 2018.

McCully said the visit to Honiara would be his first opportunity to meet with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare since he came to power late last year.

The talks were to focus on Honiara’s plans for economic development, particularly in the fisheries and tourism sectors.

Meanwhile, McCully would be speaking during a breakfast this morning in Port Moresby on the topic: “partnering with PNG in preparation for APEC 2018”. 

The New Zealand website stated that there is a long way to go but Papua New Guinea’s conscious and structured development process provides the basis under which the existing linkages in our relationship can be drawn together in a coherent way that creates business opportunities for New Zealand companies, enables New Zealand’s aid programme to support PNG’s own development process in a consistent way and leverages the strengths of the New Zealanders already involved in PNG.