PINA

At the invitation of the Electoral Commission of Papua New Guinea, the Commonwealth Secretariat will deploy a Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) to observe the country’s national election scheduled to begin on 2 July 2022. The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, constituted the ten-member group of observers, which will be led by the former President of Nauru, Baron Waqa. The COG will arrive...

The Papua New Guinea Government says it will keep its doors open to China for any discussion on foreign assistance in terms of security for the country. PNG’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Soroi Eoi said while the country was part of the Treaty of Rarotonga, the discussion of security was a ‘hotly debated discussion’ and there is a ‘collective agreement...

The U.S Army is planning its first Patriot missile air-defence exercise on Palau amid efforts by China to woo other Pacific island nations with offers of economic and security cooperation. Okinawa-based soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Battalion are expected to fire the Patriot during a 15 June drill, Capt. Nicholas Chopp, a spokesman for the 94th Air...

U.S President Biden’s special envoy for Compact negotiations with the freely associated states Ambassador Joseph Yun is expected to head a team of Americans who will come to the Marshall Islands next week for the first in-person negotiating session with Marshall Islands authorities. The U.S delegation is scheduled to arrive 14 June at the U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll, which is...

The Stockholm+50 environment conference came to a close on Friday with a call for real commitments to urgently address global environmental concerns, and for a just transition to sustainable economies, that work for all. “We came to Stockholm 50 years after the UN Conference on the Human Environment knowing that something must change. Knowing that, if we do not change,...

In a historic occasion to be witnessed this week, the Governments of Cook Islands and Samoa will open their first ever diplomatic missions based in Suva, Fiji. The inaugural opening of the Cook Islands High Commission is scheduled on Monday 06 June 2022, followed by the opening of Samoa High Commission on Tuesday, 07 June 2022. At the official opening programme...

China and Papua New Guinea held talks on a free-trade deal Friday, as Beijing's foreign minister wrapped up a landmark tour of the Pacific Islands with a stop in the resource-rich nation. Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape said discussions in the capital Port Moresby had focused on economic cooperation and a long-mooted trade agreement. China is already a major...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he will “engage” with East Timor, after the South-East Asian nation agreed to sign a slew of new agreements with Beijing across areas including healthcare and economic co-operation. On Friday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi travelled to Dili where he was expected to sign off on the deals. Albanese, travel to Jakarta on Sunday...

New Zealand’s foreign minister has defended herself against accusations of complacency in the wake of China’s dramatic push for greater influence in the Pacific region, saying New Zealand does “not need to be reactive to any other agenda from any other country”. In the immediate aftermath of China’s attempt to sign 10 Pacific Island countries up to a sweeping regional...

Pacific World Trade Organisation (WTO) member nations have set their priorities and positions for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), scheduled to take place from 12-15 June 2022, in Switzerland. The 02 June virtual meeting, chaired by Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, Fiji Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, considered key issues for Pacific WTO Members, including a Pacific Ministerial Group...