My visit to Papua New Guinea concludes my tour of the Pacific region, where I have also visited Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa.
Today I concluded a three-day visit to Papua New Guinea, at the invitation of Prime Minister Hon Peter O’Neill. The purpose of my visit was to explore further ideas of partnership with the Government of Papua New Guinea and provide a briefing on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which takes place in Malta in November. I also had the honour of addressing the Pacific Islands Summit in Port Moresby on 9 September 2015.
My visit to Papua New Guinea concludes my tour of the Pacific region, where I have also visited Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa.
In Papua New Guinea, I had meetings with Prime Minister Hon Peter O’Neill and the Foreign Minister, Hon Rimbink Pato. Our discussions included partnership in the areas of:
Oceans and Natural Resources
The Commonwealth has an ongoing programme of support to Papua New Guinea in the area of maritime boundaries and natural resource management. We are currently supporting Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia to defend a joint claim to an extended continental shelf covering 600,000 sq km.
The Commonwealth will be pleased to provide technical assistance to develop a National Oceans Policy, which will enable Papua New Guinea to sustainably manage its marine environment, and to explore further technical assistance in the area of Ocean Governance, the Blue Economy and marine planning, especially in the context of the Government creating a new Office of Oceans.
Debt Management
The Commonwealth’s globally recognised debt management software currently manages Papua New Guinea’s sovereign debt portfolio of US$5.72billion. The Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS) benefits over 100 agencies including Ministries of Finance, Treasuries and Central Banks, and is in operation in 60 countries, including many outside the Commonwealth.
In June, officials from Papua New Guinea undertook capacity-building training on the newly-released version of CS-DRMS.
We have further assisted Papua New Guinea in the development of a Debt Bulletin to improve transparency and dissemination of debt. We are committed to further expanding our work programme in this area, including in the creation of a unified database in CS-DRMS; the development of a Medium-Term Debt Strategy (MTDS); and, capacity building for MTDS formulation.
Trade
Papua New Guinea benefits from the support given by Commonwealth Trade Advisers deployed in the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat under the Commonwealth Hub and Spokes programme as also the Commonwealth Trade experts working with the Office of the Chief Technical Adviser for PACER Plus negotiations.
Human Rights and Rule of Law
We are pleased to be able to work with Papua New Guinea in the development of their decision to establish a Human Rights Institution as well as assistance with the requirements and obligations of the Universal Periodic Review and the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Governance
We are looking forward to working with Papua New Guinea, during its Chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum, to hold a regional workshop to develop a programme on the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the separation of powers. We are grateful for the active support of the Government to take this forward.
Small States and Climate Change
The Commonwealth has made a distinctive contribution in advancing the cause of small states and in international awareness of the challenges and approaches required to address their vulnerabilities and needs. In my meetings with Heads, I advised of progress in the development of a Commonwealth Small States Centre of Excellence, besides anticipated outcomes on climate change and trade particularly focused on the needs of small states at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in November this year.
Social Development
Papua New Guinea has been a strong and consistent supporter of youth development in the Commonwealth and hosted the 8th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting in 2013.
I look forward to Papua New Guinea’s participation at this month’s Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in New York and also to welcoming the Hon Prime Minister at CHOGM.
I had the opportunity during my visit to profit from meetings with all Commonwealth Heads from the Pacific region. During my visit, I also had the opportunity to meet with the Secretaries General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.