PNG – Indonesia 3rd Leaders’ Dialogue
The governments of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia have agreed to boost people-to-people relations and increase trade over the international land border.
Four Memorandum of Understandings [MoU] were signed on Monday between Prime Minister James Marape and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo to progress talks in the areas of;
• MoU on Cross Border Movement for Commercial Buses and Coaches;
• MoU on Cross Border Transport of Goods by Motor Vehicles
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Education; and
• Renewed MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Health.
The 3rd Papua New Guinea - Indonesia Leaders' Dialogue was held at Bogor Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Prime Minister James Marape thanked President Joko Widodo for the bilateral relations he has fostered with the people and the government of Papua New Guinea during his tenure as the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
The Prime Minister said the PNG-Indonesia relations have diversified over the last three years since the inception of the Annual Leaders’ Dialogue which has shifted the focus from border relations to business, trade, investment, agriculture, economic infrastructure development, information communication and technology, and energy.
He added that business-to-business cooperation has also intensified between the countries' chambers of business, synergizing efforts to increase trade, while adding that it was under President Widodo's leadership that the first PNG-Indonesia Leaders' Dialogue was initiated in 2022 in Jakarta.
The second PNG - Indonesia Leaders' Dialogue was held in Port Moresby in 2023.
The Prime Minister said the Annual Leaders’ Dialogue has been an effective mechanism to coordinate and measure progress of the existing bilateral relations that continues to foster business, trade and commerce, and socioeconomic development riding on Indonesia’s positive economic growth and PNG’s potential to harness and trade its vast renewable and non-renewable resources.
In closing, Prime Minister Marape thanked President Widodo for continuing to foster relations with Papua New Guinea even while preparing to hand over the reign of the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia to his successor Prabowo Subianto.