US Secretary of Interior arrives for talks

UNITED States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is in the country to hold high-level talks with senior government officials including Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
He is the first US Cabinet secretary to visit PNG in nearly a decade.
A statement from the embassy stated that Zinke’s meetings highlighted the importance of the US-PNG bilateral relationship and continued engagement and support in development, defence, and conservation efforts.
The department has a long history of working with PNG in natural hazard cooperation and technical support through the US Geological Survey Bureau (USGS).
Its Volcano Disaster Assistance Programme which deploys rapid-response volcano crisis teams has supported four crisis responses in Papua New Guinea.
The department’s International Technical Assistance Programme provides institutional support and protected areas management support to PNG under the Coral Triangle Initiative.
The six-country partnership focuses on sustaining marine and coastal resources in the Asia-Pacific coral triangle region.