The Information and Communications Technology Minister Timothy Masiu was pleased with the outcome of the Pacific ICT Ministers Dialogue (PICTMD) which had a total of 11 ministers from the Pacific region fly into the capital for the inaugural event. “I am so happy to that all the pacific island nations are represented during this meeting. So far, as the minister responsible for hosting this important dialogue, I am happy and positive at the way things are going.” “There are also very good comment and feedback from the Ministers and this is an avenue that Ministers in the Pacific can share their own experiences.” “Of course, there’s never being any time before in which the Pacific Island ICT Minsters meet to discuss their own issues and share some of the predicaments that they face and, of course, the way forward.” Masiu said, one of the reasons for having this dialogue is because some of the Pacific islands lack the capacity in their ICT development where today, there is a lot of cyber issues and the pacific needs to be very careful. Minister Masiu added that, he recently had a bilateral meeting with the Australian Minister for Communications Hon. Michelle Rowland, where Australia is putting forward what it intends to do in PNG. Masiu said, he will announce later what the agenda was and both countries are expected to meet at a later date this year. He further stated that, PNG’s digital journey is a working progress because there is still so much to do. “I want to thank the government of today under the leadership of our good Prime Minster Hon. James Marape for supporting our sector. ICT sector is the way to go.” “We have the cyber security issues and social media issues and a lot more in the country.” “What we are doing in the department is putting policies in place.” “The policies go through cabinet through submissions, and through this, we build the infrastructures based on the foundations.” Masiu further said, “As the minister responsible, I don’t want us to do something that will not benefit us in the future and of course, we must bring in the right equipment’s and administer the right polices to keep our country safe given today’s cyber security.” Meanwhile, the next Pacific ICT Ministers Dialogue will be held in New Caledonia in 2025.