Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape has addressed the country's business leaders on his new government's economic strategy.
In his speech to the Business Council of PNG in Port Moresby he pledged to increase employment and reduce the country's high poverty rate.
Photo: https://pmjamesmarape.com/
"We want to do better in our law and order, education, and health. We want to grow our economy and create more opportunities for our people," he said.
"We would like to return our country to a place where it is safe for our citizens to walk on our streets, and for our investors to do business.
"In education we want to make sure that all our young people are educated up to year 12 and are able to be engaged either in business, trade, or progress through high quality tertiary education.
"In health we want to make sure all our citizens are able to access a health facility within one hour of their chosen modes of transportation. We want to make sure that all our health facilities are able to provide the minimum standards of health care as predetermined by the level of the facility.
"Stability, continuity, and innovativeness are vital determinants we strongly feel will strengthen our collective resolve for a more practical Cabinet that is outcomes-oriented and meaningfully delivering much needed services for our constituents."
He also said Cabinet would be accountable to itself and to the people.
He promised to support companies in increasing exports, and cited his recent creation of a new cabinet position, the Minister of Coffee.
The appointment has raised eyebrowns but Mr Marape insists his decision will facilitate the commodity's export.
According to the International Coffee Organisation, in 2019, Papua New Guinea was the 17th largest coffee exporter in the world.
He promised to support companies in exporting goods to Asian nations.
"Papua New Guinea has a very good bilateral relationship with China and India. Both have 1.5 billion people. They need food, they need energy."
