Welcome address at the Queensland Government’s Mini Trade Fair
17 November 2009, Kumul Room, Holiday Inn, Port Moresby, PNG
Australian High Commissioner to PNG, Chris Moraitis
Mr John Bissell – Leader of the Trade Queensland Delegation
Ms Tammy Bacon – Principal Trade Officer – Trade Queensland
Trade Queensland Mission Delegates
Leaders of the PNG Business Community and Government
I am delighted to welcome you to the Queensland Government’s Mini Trade Fair.
In particular, your host this evening Trade Queensland - the Queensland Government’s official export agency, and the twenty three members of the trade delegation.
Australia – PNG relationship
I often talk about the special bilateral relationship Australia shares with Papua New Guinea.
And if I may reflect on comments made by former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke during his recent visit to PNG – Mr Hawke said that “there are times when the term special relationship is used too loosely – but not in the case of PNG”.
Australia’s relationship with Papua New Guinea remains one of our deepest and most enduring.
PNG is an important friend and neighbour to Australia, and we are closely linked by both geography and history.
As I have said at various business functions I have addressed this year, I’m pleased to be able to report that that relationship is currently booming - things are going well, in fact they have gone from satisfactory, to good, to very very good.
As governments, we have made excellent progress over the past 18 months, with a series of very productive exchanges.
We have put in place clear plans to build a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual responsibility, consistent with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Port Moresby Declaration.
Queensland – PNG relationship
This national relationship of course is made up of many parts coming from a broad range of state, town, business community and people to people relationships that create this bilateral bond.
And it is the special relationship that Queensland has with PNG that I would like to touch on this evening.
Queensland of course is Australia’s nearest state to PNG – sharing the Torres Strait as their common boundary.
It is because of this proximity that there is a natural affinity with Papua New Guineans and Queensland - with significant Papua New Guinean communities in Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane.
Queensland is the only state to have a PNG Consulate – and the Consul, Mr Paul Nerau is a strong advocate for Queensland - PNG business.
Further poof of this unique relationship with PNG is evidenced by the significant number of government to government activities that occur under the Queensland Papua New Guinea Memorandum of Understanding on Business Cooperation.
This MoU was first signed in 1992 and was re-signed in Cairns in October 2008 between the Premier, the Honourable Anna Bligh MP, and the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Sir Michael Somare.
Under this umbrella MoU are a number of sub MoUs between various government departments including : -
- The Queensland Department of Main Roads and Department of Transport and the Papua New Guinea Department of Transport;
- The Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and the Papua New Guinea Department of Agriculture and Livestock;
- The Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority; and
- The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water and the Papua New Guinea Department of Lands & Physical Planning.
Representatives from the Business Cooperation Group meet annually to identify ways in which:
- business can leverage of this Group’s extensive departmental contacts;
- and ways these various departments may collaborate and assist each other eg through information sharing and staff exchanges.
The Queensland Government has shown a strong desire to develop trade with PNG – not only evidenced by the attendance of tonight’s mission delegates – but also notable that in the past three years Queensland has sent two Agribusiness Missions to PNG with the most recent being lead by the Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries the Honourable Tim Mulherin. And the Minister for Emergency Services led a Parliamentary Delegation to PNG late last year.
Bilateral trade
- Australia PNG bilateral merchandise trade for 08-09 was valued at 4.6 billion dollars;
- Australian exports to PNG were valued at 1.6 billion dollars and Queensland exports accounted for 35%;
- By way of comparison PNG exports to Australia were valued at 3 billion dollars and exports to Queensland accounted for 81% of that.
You can see why Queensland and PNG have such a strong trading relationship.
Pacer Plus
Australia’s trade with PNG is also growing strongly, with two way trade rising by over 50 per cent in the past five years.
The PNG LNG project is expected to see continued strong growth in opportunities for trade with PNG.
In this regard, Australia also looks forward to working, in the years ahead, with PNG on a PACER Plus regional free trade agreement.
At this year’s Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Cairns, leaders agreed to beginning formal negotiations on PACER Plus.
Australia’s primary motivation for PACER Plus is to secure the economic sustainability of the region.
This will include not just opening markets, but building the capacity of countries in the region to take advantage of the opportunities created by trade liberalisation.
And, indicative of this commitment, Forum Trade Ministers recently agreed, in Brisbane, to priority areas for early consideration.
This included (but was not limited to) trade facilitation, trade promotion, and trade related development assistance.
The business community’s involvement will be important as we work to free up the flow of goods, services and investments within the region.
PNG and Australia will undertake consultations with our business communities and other stakeholders and Minister Abal has emphasised the priority he places on consulting business closely by agreeing to negotiate, no decisions have been taken and no conclusions are foregone, but we believe that there will be real and lasting benefits for all parties from a PACER Plus agreement.
Conclusion
As I noted in my welcome comments to delegates last night - over the past four weeks we have hosted delegations from:
- The Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce;
- The Cairns Chamber of Commerce;
- The Austrade Resources Mission; and this evening
- the Trade Queensland mission.
The Trade Queensland delegation takes the total number of delegates from these missions to 70 – an astounding number – reflecting the growing interest by Australian firms wishing to trade with PNG.
Please take time this evening to walk around meet the delegates at their trade displays.
There is a wide range of Queensland goods and services capability on display.
There are specialists here this evening representing aviation, professional development, education and training, environment, composite fibre, shipping and engineering services and solutions and suppliers representing industrial, building and automotive products.
Once again welcome – and I invite you to stay on and enjoy the evening with our Queensland delegates.