The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru has revealed that trade between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia over the years has been quite low despite the bilateral relationship between the two countries. Minister Maru, when giving his remarks at the Inaugural PNG- Indonesia Business Forum at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby on Wednesday 05th July, revealed that the two-way trade between the two countries stands at only USD$207million. “For us in Papua New Guinea, it means Indonesia is not even within the top ten trading partners of Papua New Guinea, nor are we, and yet we are the closest of neighbours and we haven’t been able to build a trade and investment relationship over the last 48 years, that is the truth." "It is not a time to talk about our past, but it is a time to charter a new future,” said the minister. Maru said both countries now have the opportunity to really take this relationship to the next level and the recent flight of Citilink from Indonesia to PNG, is a good start. The minister said Indonesia has a growth rate of 6% and 5% per annum, a GDP of nearly USD$400million, and one of the fastest growing economies with a population of 273 million. “You are a huge export market for PNG, but we never tapped your potential.” On the other, Maru said PNG has a lot of resources, a lot of investment opportunities, but Indonesia has not tapped into these opportunities. However, Minister Maru also made it clear that for this relationship in trade to be strengthened, there has to be commitment by the business sectors and the governments of both countries. “This is a time to make a new beginning and I want to tell you that my office and my department and our Prime Minister and our government is committed,” said Minister Maru. With that the Minister announced that the government will start a six-month study on the viability of establishing a free trade agreement with Indonesia. The study is expected to start next month.