UAE to sponsor PNG

THE Government has thanked the United Arab Emirates government for sponsoring PNG’s participation in the Dubai Expo 2020 starting October next year.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Patrick Pruaitch met UAE Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Sultan Al Shamsi last Saturday at the Expo 2020 international participants’ meeting in Dubai.
Pruaitch said the UAE government would fund the construction and fitting out of the PNG pavilion.
It will also provide two apartments free of charge for PNG delegates during the six months of the expo.
It will also pay for cleaning and maintenance costs.
The expo takes place in Dubai from Oct 20 to April 10, 2021. It will be attended by millions of people, most of whom are building their own multi-million-dollar pavilions. Seventy countries have completed ground-breaking ceremonies.
Pruaitch advised the UAE government that PNG would soon appoint a commissioner-general for Expo2020, a task currently carried out in an acting capacity by Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union Joshua Kalinoe.
Pruaitch told the UAE Vice-Minster he had a good exchange on bilateral issues with the UAE ambassador to PNG, Dr Mohamed Omar A Balfaqeeh, during a stopover in Singapore.
Al Shamsi said the UAE government would assist PNG to profile its development potential and to connect PNG to the rest of the world through Expo2020.