Prime Minister Hon. James Marape this afternoon (15.05.25) met with the Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Excellency Mr. Omar Shedadeh to further discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in trade and investment, and technical expertise by UAE to PNG in targeted areas.
Mr. Omar is representing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Highness Shiekh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the Special Envoy to Caribbean and Pacific States.
UAE is a relatively new partner to PNG, having formalized its diplomatic ties with PNG on 22 May 2017, with an NEC decision for the opening of a diplomatic mission in the capital, Abu Dhabi pending; and a visit to PNG in 2014 by the Foreign Minister, His Highness Shiekh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Relations peaked when great interest in trade and investment with PNG was generated during the World Expo 2020 (delayed because of COVID-19 pandemic and held from 2021 to 2022) where 23 companies registered their interests to invest in PNG.
With the PNG Ministry of International Trade and Investment, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitating the arrangements, three initial agreements are currently underway. They include the Air Services Agreement, Double Taxation Agreement, and Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.
At the meeting today, Prime Minister Marape noted UAE’s colossal success in development over a relatively short period, describing UAE as “an inspiration to us all”.
He highlighted the benefits PNG stands to get out from UAE’s experiences and position as a world leader in trade and investment, technological innovation and advancement, and environmental sustainability.
He said the PNG Government is looking forward to working closely with the Government of UAE to grow the business-to-business and people-to-people relations of the two countries while the government-to-government relation progresses.
The Prime Minister advocated PNG’s strong position between the Pacific and Asia regions, while underscoring Asia’s rise in economic power within this century making PNG the ideal location to invest to tap into the expanding markets of Asia.
Once more, discussions turned to trading with UAE in mining, fisheries and agriculture where the Special Envoy put across his country’s keen interest to buy from PNG, high among them, PNG coffee.