The Expo Site in Osaka, Japan, is crowded with visitors every day from 9am to 9pm with one-third being foreigners and two-thirds from Japan, reported the Commissioner-General of Section Papua New Guinea (PNG), Ambassador Gabriel Dusava during the visit of the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, to the Expo site.
Ambassador Dusava and the officials on the ground reported that there were so many enquiries from Japanese tourists who were overwhelmed by the beauty, scenery and the culture of PNG.
“They wish to visit PNG. However, their biggest concern is no direct flights between Japan and PNG and no visa on-arrival for Japanese standard passport holders. There had also been business enquiries. Our biggest wish is to have Air Niugini re-open the direct flight between Port Moresby and Narita before our National Day on July 22nd.
The program for the National Day is being finalized where the Prime Minister James Marape, will be the Guest of Honor and the Head of Delegation,” said Ambassador Dusava.
The program will include the Prime Minister attending the National Day in Osaka on July 22nd, then traveling to Tokyo on July 23rd to meet with the potential investors who want to invest in PNG.
Prime Minister Marape will host a reception in the evening of July 23rd where he will meet with the key Japanese Government officials and also meet with the Japanese private sector and development partners like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
“I am greatly impressed by the efforts of our team at the Expo Site, led by Ambassador Dusava. Despite our challenges, our team has been doing a very good job, working long hours, to market and promote PNG to the world at the Expo. I am extremely proud of them.
The investment for our participation at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, is a very strategic investment by our government to show our support for Japan in their Expo year.
We are very keen to deepen and broaden our relationship with Japan, so we are very grateful that the Prime Minister has made a commitment to personally visit the Expo and be the Guest of Honor at our National Day in Osaka and to meet with the Japanese private sector and development partners in Tokyo during his visit in July,” added Minister Maru.
Meanwhile, Minister Maru also visited the Australian Pavilion upon invitation from their Deputy Commissioner-General, Ms. Lucy Ryan.