The Papua New Guinea (Hong Kong, China) Chamber of Commerce (PNGHKCCC) will be official recognized a day before the inaugural PNG- Asia Investment Conference in Hong Kong in October, after its creation four years ago. PNGHKCCC was established in 2019 with the objectives of becoming an information bank and promoter of PNG in Hong Kong, to help build business-to-business and people-to-people relationship between Hong Kong and PNG, and to set the foundation for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) development in PNG through bilateral technological skills transfer schemes. The PNGHKCCC will be officially recognized by the PNG Government on October 15th, during a welcome dinner that will be hosted by the chamber for the PNG delegates who will be attending the upcoming PNG-Asia Investment Conference in Hong Kong from October 16th to 17th. This arrangement was agreed on by the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru and the Chairman of the PNGHKCCC, Mr. Anthony Lai in Hong Kong, where Minister Maru and delegation met with the executives and the members of the chamber. "During the welcome dinner on October 15, Prime Minister James Marape will be invited to formally give the PNG (Hong Kong, China) Chamber of Commerce an official Certificate of Recognition by the Government of Papua New Guinea. This will mean the chamber is officially recognized by our Government and the country as the official body that will represent Papua New Guinea in Hong Kong,” said Minister Maru. Minister Maru asked the executives and the members of the PNGHKCCC to get behind the PNG Government and the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum to host the inaugural PNG-Asia Investment Conference. “This will be the first time for us to host such conference out of Australia and it will be the start of a new journey between Papua New Guinea and China. China exports about K1.5 billion worth of goods to Papua New Guinea annually and we export up to K5 billion worth of goods to China every year. These figures indicate that China is becoming the most important trading partner of Papua New Guinea,” said Minister Maru. "If this inaugural conference is successful, then it will become an annual event which will build the bridge and relationship between Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong, China, and the greater Asia Region," added Minister Maru. Meanwhile, the inaugural PNG- Asia Investment Conference will be held at the Regent Hotel, Hong Kong.