PNG seeks New Zealand’s expertise for landmark trade deal with UAE

New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, Minister Maru, and New Zealand High Commissioner to PNG, H.E. Peter Zwart with some of the recipients of the BLP Program during recently (Image: Supplied)

The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, says he was privileged to have spent some time with New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, during his recent visit to the country.

"I specifically informed Prime Minister Luxon that I will formalize a letter to the New Zealand Government through his Minister for Trade and Investment, Todd McLay, to seek their support in providing the much-needed technical assistance to Papua New Guinea to negotiate a complex yet very important Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement [CEPA] with the United Arab Emirates [UAE]," Minister Maru said.

Minister Maru said UAE has concluded CEPAs with 30 countries whilst PNG only has one with the European Union [EU].

"Such Agreements take a number of years to complete and they are costly and very delicate. We do not have all the experience and expertise to handle such delicate and complex negotiations with a country like the UAE.

“Such an Agreement has many chapters including trade in goods, trade in services, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises, customs procedures and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, and much more.

“New Zealand had just completed and signed off a CEPA with the UAE. Therefore, it is the most logical country to seek technical advice and training of our own staff from the National Trade Office to handle such complex negotiations," said Minister Maru.

Maru said the whole-of-government approach needed to the negotiations.

He said all key sectors of Government and the private sector including our SME sector must be allowed to contribute to formulating the Agreement.

“We will need funding to commence the negotiations, so I will be submitting a funding request to the Government so we can commence the negotiations straight away given the UAE has provided our Government a draft of the proposed CEPA.

“The Marape-Rosso Government is keen to complete the negotiations and have the Agreement signed within the next 12 months," he added.

In the meantime, the PNG Government had been challenged to show its commitment to a long-term relationship with the UAE by finalizing the long-delayed Air Service Agreement and Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement [IPPA] between PNG and the UAE before September 16, 2025.