The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has officially welcomed the appointment of the new Mining Minister in a small but significant ceremony in Port Moresby on Tuesday, October 08th. The MRA management and staff yesterday officially welcomed the newly appointed Mining Minister, Wake Goi, who is the Member for Jimi electorate in the Jiwaka Province, and a People’s Party member. The minister visited the Mining Haus at Konedobu accompanied by his wife Mrs Goi, his First Secretary Reuben Daniel, People’s Party member and former Governor for Jiwaka, Dr William Tongamp, other party executives and Jimi District officials. In his welcome remarks, MRA Managing Director, Mr Jerry Garry, said Minister Goi brought to the Ministry, and the sector integrity, maturity and experience. “Minister, I want to assure you that the MRA team has a pool of mining expertise that you require, to give you advice and appropriately position you and I, so that we can drive the industry forward.” Mr. Garry said the mining industry was the biggest contributor to the national purse annually. However, he said the industry was also the most challenging industry that comes with a lot of complexities. He gave the Minister an overview of the MRA and the mining sector, including exports revenue statistics and the challenges faced by the sector amongst others. When addressing the staff, Minister Goi encouraged cooperation between his office and the MRA to ensure that the government’s agenda of “Take back PNG” is achieved. He said it was the government’s wish to see that the country gets a fair share from the exploitation of its resources, and at the same time ensure that investors get Returns on Investments (RoI). The Minister also said that he would provide the necessary political support and leadership to the MRA and the sector, to ensure that all stakeholders are adequately serviced. After the formalities, the Minister was given a tour of the country’s Mineral Production Data Monitoring Hub and Data Repository.