Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru says he is happy with his visit to China recently.
“Building on the sister-city relationship between Shenzhen and Port Moresby and the recent State visit of Governor of Guangdong, Wang Weizhong, I was happy to make my first official visit as the Minister for International Trade and Investment to two economic powerhouse cities of China, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. My one-week visit to China was to let the Government and the people of China know that PNG was ready to do business with China,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru led a small delegation and they visited Hong Kong, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou of Guangdong Province from July 24-28, 2023. The main objectives of this visit were to inspect the venue, and do awareness and drum up support from the Private Sector of Hong Kong and mainland China for the upcoming inaugural Papua New Guinea (PNG)-Asia Investment Conference that will be hosted in Hong Kong from October 16-17, 2023; to check possible locations in Shenzhen to open a new Trade Mission following the closure of the PNG Trade Office in Taipei, Taiwan; and meet with Shenzhen and Guangzhou Municipal Governments and their State-Owned Enterprises and Private Sector to inform them of investment opportunities in PNG.
Minister Maru and delegation visited the confirmed venue of the upcoming PNG-Asia Investment Conference, which is Regent Hotel on Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
“If this inaugural conference is successful then it will become an annual event that will build the bridge and relationship between PNG and Hong Kong, China, and the greater Asia Region,” said Minister Maru.
Whilst in Hong Kong, Minister Maru also met with the executives and members of the PNG (Hong Kong, China) Chamber of Commerce (PNGHKCCC).
“PNGHKCCC will host a welcome dinner on October 15, 2023, for the PNG delegates who will be attending the PNG-Asia Investment Conference. Prime Minister Marape will be invited to this welcome dinner to formally give PNGHKCCC a Certificate of Recognition from the Government of Papua New Guinea. The PNGHKCCC Chairman, Mr. Anthony Lai and I agreed on this arrangement during our meeting,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru also met with the Shenzhen Government and private sector where an agreement was reached between them and the Ministry and the Department of International Trade and Investment for the new PNG Trade Mission to be in a very prestigious office building in Shenzhen.
“Under my Ministry I intended to have this Trade Mission opened in October of this year. A team will visit Shenzhen in the coming weeks to finalize the negotiations on the office space and to cost out the whole setup and operation. The position of the trade commissioner will be advertised this week so a trade commissioner could be appointed as soon as possible. If all arrangements go well, we will invite Prime Minister Marape to open this new Trade Mission during his visit to China for the Belt and Road Initiative Leaders Meeting in Beijing,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru also had a bilateral meeting with the Governor Weizhong of Guangdong Province. One of the main issues that Governor Weizhong raised was the difficulty in obtaining visas for business travel in a timely and efficient manner, especially in the south of China. He informed Minister Maru that there were currently 68 Consulates in Guangzhou with Vanuatu being the latest country to establish its office in addition to their Embassy in Beijing. He strongly recommended for PNG to consider establishing a Consulate in Guangzhou to help facilitate visas and two-way trade.
“I conveyed that this issue will be given the utmost attention to ensure that the PNG Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Immigration work to immediately address this issue. Currently all the visas are issued in PNG’s Embassy in Beijing, however, noting that most businesses and possible investors are in the south of China, it would be more practical to have a Consulate in Guangdong Province, specifically in Guangzhou so we can improve the trade and investment relationship between our two countries and our people,” said Minister Maru.
Governor Weizhong also mentioned that initial talks with Southern China Airlines have started following his discussions with Prime Minister Marape on direct flights between Port Moresby and Guangzhou.
“The commencement of this flight will not only ease the facilitation of business travel into PNG but will also be a booster for tourism in the country and in transforming Port Moresby to becoming a transit hub for Asian and Pacific travellers,” said Minister Maru.
“Overall, my trip to Hong Kong and mainland China was very successful. China is ready to invest in PNG in big ways in both the renewable and non-renewable sectors. My trip has laid the groundwork for key deliverables of the Marape-Rosso Government which is the inaugural PNG-Asia Investment Conference, opening of PNG’s first Trade Mission in Shenzhen, and possibly a new Consulate in Guangzhou. Large investors are looking forward to attending the upcoming PNG-Asia Investment Conference on October in Hong Kong and they are also ready to partner with PNG in the oil, gas and mining sector, and the non-renewable sector. We have to work on addressing the issues that have been raised as a concern to the people and the Government of China so we can improve the trade and investment relationship between our two countries and peoples,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru said added that PNG was serious with its relationship with China.
“China is becoming PNG’s biggest trading partner. PNG’s current exports to China is valued at K5 billion, whilst China's total value of exports to PNG is worth K1.5 billion. With more mining and petroleum projects coming on board, China will continue to be our biggest market in the future. We have to consolidate and deepen our relationship with China in order to secure future market not only for our resources industries but also our non-renewable sectors of forestry, fisheries, and agriculture,” said Minister Maru.
“With our Government’s focus to follow the path of Special Economic Zones, China is the appropriate partner to learn best practices from given their own success which led to China from being an agrarian economy to one of the economic superpowers of the world today. We can learn a lot from China in terms of technology and skills transfer. This is a whole new unexplored area,” added Minister Maru.
