The UK government has confirmed it will maintain its current trading arrangements with Papua New Guinea after it leaves the European Union.
Photo: luzitanija/123RF
According to Business Advantage PNG, the State Minister for the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field, said "PNG would not be disadvantaged" by a British exit from the EU.
PNG's trade relationship with the UK is currently governed by an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU, which guarantees PNG exporters tariff-free and quota-free access to all EU countries.
But Mr Field told PNG's prime minister Peter O'Neill in London that the UK would work closely with his government on a transition.
He said this would mean that after Britain leaves the EU next year, once the implementation period is over in December 2020, the trading parameters between PNG and UK would be exactly the same as they were before.
In response Mr O'Neill outlined PNG's potential as a trading partner for the UK to the forum, citing its fertile land mass, tourism potential and proximity to Asia.
The prime minister, who also claimed PNG was a politically stable country, indicated there would be a forthcoming announcement of 'huge incentives in agriculture and tourism, which would include tax breaks.
According to figures presented to PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, UK-PNG bilateral investment is currently worth US$246 million.
A British parliamentarian, Lord Sheik, urged moves to accelerate the growth of bilateral trade, which he said was valued at US$500 million in 2016, in order to achieve a trade balance from the current level which is weighed heavily in the UK's favour.
