Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape is urging bilateral partners to open up an economic bubble that will allow export and trade in the region to help ease the economic strain impacting the Pacific Islands due to Covid-19.
Marape made the appeal during the 9th Pacific Alliance Leaders’ Meeting (PALM 9) that was held virtually Friday.
He told the leaders that the pandemic had a direct consequence on the economies in the Pacific, with the economic bubble enabling commerce.
“While we have not closed our borders we have adapted to living with Covid-19,” he said.
“Many Pacific Islands are struggling, most of them rely on tourism, fisheries and export of raw materials. And we made special intervention to have a specific economic bubble so that our small Pacific nations are not harmed further when the Covid-19 effects continue into the immediate future,” said PM Marape.
SOURCE: THE NATIONAL/PACNEWS
