Category

Regional News

Category
Foreign Trade

Strengthening Ties with Japan

By

Prime Minister James Marape met with the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, before attending the state funeral of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

PM Marape was accompanied by International Trade and Investment Minister, Richard Maru and East Sepik Governor, Allan Bird.

“Today was just a short, one-day visit to Japan for me, but very important in consolidating relations between our two countries,”

“There are 191 world leaders here today to attend the State Funeral of the late Shinzo Abe, and for PNG to have been accorded the honour of meeting Japanese Prime Minister Kishida is very special,” the PM said.

The Prime Minister also met with executives of Japan’s major energy companies with discussions centred around the LNG project and downstream processing which the Government is pushing for PNG to be more active in.

“Prime Minister Kishida, during our discussions, highlighted Japan’s need for energy security as well as the need for trade between our two countries to grow.”

Japan through its JX Nippon Oil and Gas Company is a joint venture with Nippon PNG LNG, which has interests in the PNG LNG Project. Since the 1st shipment, PNG has supplied approximately a 7.9million tonnes of liquefied natural gas every year to the world market, and Japan is one country that PNG supplies.

Japan is also involved in other major projects like the K692million Nadzab Airport Redevelopment Project which is currently in its construction phase. The project is captured under Japan’s Economic Corporation program which aims to improve PNG’s economy and broaden internationalization.

“Prime Minister Kishida highlighted the fact that PNG is an important bilateral partner of Japan,” said Marape.

Prime Minister Marape concluded his meeting by assuring the Japanese Prime Minister that outstanding trade treaties between the two countries will resume and PNG will continue to assist Japan where necessary, especially in its energy security needs.

The Prime Minister left for the United States where he will attend the Pacific Islands Summit in Washington DC.

Prime Minister James Marape and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their meeting this morning in Tokyo. Picture by PM’s Department
Keep Reading
By
News

PNG Sports Media Ready To Assist Solomon Islands in 2023

By

Papua New Guinea Sports Media Association (PNGSMA) is prepared to assist the Solomon Islands with its Media & Communications Plan for the 2023 Pacific Games. 

PNG SMA President Peter Sevara Jr said the onus is on PNG to ensure the “Happy Isles” obtain the best from their aspirations.

“Both countries continue to benefit from Government to Government relations over the years and it is no different this time around.”

“While Team PNG will also come to compete, the onus is on PNG to ensure their experiences of hosting big games will come in handy to assist the Solomon Islands to achieve a successful outcome,” Sevara said.

The President and PNGSMA Secretary Isaac Liri are both attending the Pacific Sports Media Dialogue in Honiara in conjunction with the 6th Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Media Summit from the 26th to the 30th of this month.

The Pacific Sports Media dialogue hosted by the Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) has been assisting PNG and four other Pacific Islands to set up its Sports Journalist Association over the past five years.

“Collaboration throughout the Pacific region is what we need and I believe we have enough capacity to reach out to our brothers and sisters to offer them a hand in building their preparedness.”

“We are only as good as those around us so in true Pacific fashion let’s support each other because we understand each other more,” Sevara added.

Sevara said the current Melanesian Spearhead Group Prime Ministers Cup hosted in Vanuatu is an example of the region coming together to build awareness of our capacity and foster mutual relationships.

The meet was graced by Koroi Hawkins, a part Solomon Islander and Fijian who was employed by Radio New Zealand International straight out of Solomon Islands.

Hawkins shared that news from our region has always been negative but said sports reporters in the pacific can change that.

He added that the opportunity to use their sport writing skills to change negative perceptions of our region lies on their shoulders because, in world news, pacific sports news travels faster and further throughout the world than any other news genre.

Keep Reading
By
News

MSG PM’s Cup Vital For a United Melanesia

By

Sport is a vital tool for development and when it is driven strategically encompassing as many values as possible the impact it has on a region or globally can be quite profound.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group Prime Ministers Cup presently hosted in Vanuatu aims to enhance bilateral agreements and partnerships for the Melanesian people.

PNG Sports Foundation Executive Director Albert Veratau is adamant that Sport can act as a tool for change by uniting our people.

Veratau is in Vanuatu after facilitating PNG participation in the revived competition through collaborative efforts from various Government partners.

“Melanesian people alone make up over 50% of the population in the Pacific region. These are the people from the five countries in PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia including the regions in West Papua, the Torres Strait Islanders and the Australian Aboriginals.”

“Together we will have an impact on the global stage but we need strategic and necessary decisions to unite our sub-region,” Veratau said.

Melanesian countries are already making an impact in sports like Rugby Union, Beach Volleyball, Soccer, Rugby League and Futsal with its people among the stars of high-level competitions like NRL in Australia, Super League in England, and Super Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere.

PNG alone with over 8 million population has taken the necessary steps to initiate talks for the revival of the Melanesian Cup through the MSG Sports Secretariat through former chairman John Susuve, a senior officer of the PNG Sports Foundation.

Now a FIFA-sanctioned event that will in future include a women’s edition, plans are mooted to bring other sports into the fold.

“This is the best in Melanesia and the Pacific coming together to enhance their skills and showcasing some amazing talents.”

“The more we come together to celebrate our skills there lies the more opportunities for strengthening ties and developing collaborative programs for improved outcomes.”

“Conversations on development goals must be had sooner rather than later to define our role in the Pacific and Oceania region,” said Susuve.

Keep Reading
By
News

PINA Summit Underway in Honiara

By

The 6th Pacific Media Summit of 2022 commenced yesterday with pre-summit workshops in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

InsidePNG is amongst media persons and delegates within the Pacific region including Australia and New Zealand who have convened in the Solomon Islands for the biennial event.

With the fast evolution of technological advances in the world, the Pacific region is no exception. Archiving Pacific stories and its rich cultural heritage is in a more vulnerable state than ever before and the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Summit is focused on the theme: Digital Revolution: Transforming threats into opportunities for the Pacific Media.

The weeklong series of workshops will be facilitated by UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), PINA, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and its Media Development Initiative, Pacific Media Assistance Scheme, and Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC).

Pre-Summit topics which started yesterday (26th Sept) included Media Role in Investigating the Management of Public Resources and ‘Sports Media Dialogue.

Today, (27th Sept) the summit is covering Digitising Archives and Preserving Pacific stories, Reporting on Sports integrity & corruption in the Pacific and Digital Communications safety and Security. The plenary sessions are presented via the partnership of PACJM, PINA, and UNODC.

Throughout the week the group will look at topics such as ‘the media and political leadership in a digital age, shrinking spaces for media freedom, and digitising archives and preserving Pacific stories’.

The Summit also hopes to ensure participants have a better understanding of the role of the media in investigating the management of public resources; how to increase reporting on UNCAC and anti-corruption by Pacific Island journalists, and transfer knowledge of corruption awareness to other media in-country as trainers and through partnerships; and specifically, the participants will have clarity and understanding on how to access more information and resources on the management of public resources.

“While we don’t have the capacity as developing countries to fully digitise our content, monetary-wise, It is extremely important to start the process of digitising our content in whatever means and ways we can, especially Pacific Island content as it captures the rich history of our island countries,” said Kora Nou, the President of PINA.

The Summit will conclude on Friday, 30th September 2022 with a PINA retreat and General Conference.

Journalists and Media Persons from the Pacific in the opening workshop in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Picture by Hare Haro
Keep Reading
By
Pin It