Photo: Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru presenting a gift to the Trade and Industry Minister of Singapore, Mr. Kim Yong Gan during their meeting yesterday on the margins of the APEC Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
Due to its strategic position, Singapore is eager to host the Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Roadshow the next year, where PNG can promote all the potential it can provide to Singapore and the Asia area.
At a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, made the proposal, and the Trade and Industry Minister of Singapore, Kim Yong Gan, responded.
“Singapore is keen to host the roadshow where PNG would not only market its products and projects but also use the opportunity to speak to investors and businesses in Singapore on the opportunities in PNG,” Mr Maru said.
“It would be an opportunity to see if there is any appetite for the investors in Singapore to look at investing in PNG.”
During the discussion, it was decided that a trade delegation from PNG would travel to Singapore to learn more about the country's trade and investment interests. They would then collaborate with the Singapore Business Federation to plan a roadshow that would highlight these interests.
During the discussion, Mr. Gan also mentioned that Singapore was eager to purchase LNG (liquefied natural gas) from PNG as well as other items, such as chicken, which they now import all the way from Brazil.
The intention to create a trade mission in Singapore by next year, according to Mr. Maru, is crucial because it would strengthen PNG's trade and investment ties with Singapore, where PNG has not previously pushed for trade.
“There are a lot more investors in Asia and Arab nations and they have the financial resources and the technical capacity to invest in PNG, especially in the mining and petroleum space, but we haven’t done enough to market our opportunities,” Mr Maru said.
“I will talk with the mining and petroleum sector to look at staging the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Singapore next year as part of our greater push into Asia.”
Reference: Post-Courier (23 November 2022). “Singapore Keen To Host PNG Trade And Investment Roadshow In 2023”.
