Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has urged Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) countries to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine to the PNG and other Pacific island nations as soon as possible. Marape requests came when he thanked Apec economies for their support of PNG during the Covid-19. “If a vaccine is found, let me place my lobby for small island states and small nations if vaccines can be delivered to us at the earliest, because we are exposed and are vulnerable to the damage that the Covid-19 can cause to the health of our people, and to the economies of our nations,” Marape said. Marape said at a time when PNG was facing economic stress due to the Covid-19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and larger Apec Economies such as Australia, Japan, China and others ensured that trade continued to flow. The 27th Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting was the first virtual meeting because of the Covid-19. The meeting went on from late on Friday night till the early hours of Saturday morning, chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, after which the Kuala Lumpur Declaration was issued.
It was held under the 2020 Apec Malaysia theme of optimising human potential towards a resilient future of shared prosperity, pivot, prioritise, progress. “We stand exposed to what happens globally,” Marape said. “In the instance of the Covid-19, our small country was exposed, but we thank many of our partners, especially our partners in the Apec family starting with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Philippines, Indonesia, who all stepped in to ensure that we were given the support needed.” Marape said PNG looked forward to continued support from larger Apec economies for the Covid-19. He said two years ago, when Port Moresby hosted the Apec meeting, the discussions were centered around a digital economy. “I am happy that we are now progressing from what was being discussed on Era Kone shores in Port Moresby and now our friend Malaysia is picking up the conversation,” he said. Statement/TheNational/PNGfacts next : PNG Finance Minister Denies Allegations Of Printing Cheques To Buy MPs Comments are closed.
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