Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated some important issues that he and his Papua New Guinea (PNG) counterpart, Prime Minister James Marape, will be discussing during the bilateral dialogue on his first day of visit.
Albanese, while addressing the PNG National Parliament this morning, said issues such as health, education, infrastructure, regional security,Visa arrangements between the two countries, trade and investment, and climate change are if vital interested for both countries and the region which should see assistance provided by our closest neighbour.
Touching on health, Albanese said Australia will continue to provide support for the health sector as it is the most important part of any county’s economic development.
He said one of the achievements from that support so far is the ANGAU memorial hospital in Lae. “We are proud that the Australian funded hospital was completed last year in Lae, ” he said.
” This new facility will serve an area that is home to over one million people and make contribution to boosting access to health care in PNG. “
On infrastructure, he said Australia will support this as it caters for development and business, which then leads to investments and trade.
On that note he said trade between the two countries will be discussed and further improve it. T
he same for the Visa arrangements between PNG and Australia, saying that there are areas to improve going forward.
Meanwhile, both PM’s are currently in dialogue at the APEC Haus and give a press conference soon after their bilateral talks.