Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey today welcomed the statements of the United States to expand investment in Papua New Guinea and the wider Pacific region. This follows meetings between Prime Minister James Marape and US President Joe Biden at the US-Pacific conference at the White House last month. This was a crucial meeting significantly expanding Treasurer Ling-Stuckey’s initiatives last year to step up PNG-US relations when meeting with Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro at the pentagon, as well as the US Treasury and USAID. The US has committed, as part of its expanded engagement, to around US$800 million [K28.4 Trillion] in additional aid to the participating pacific nations in the partnership. In addition, the US has declared Papua New Guinea a strategically important country, meaning that key agencies in the US Government will have to develop a co-ordinated strategic approach to investment and support in PNG. “We are grateful for the US promise to expand their presence in the Embassy in Papua New Guinea- to successfully work with our country on the ground relationships are crucial”, said Ling-Stuckey. He added that as they work to expand the range of investment opportunities in the country, it is vital that they [Government] engage other countries like the US. Ling-Stuckey further elaborated that USAID has already been making investments in the country, through a program of power support and other smaller investments and is looking forward to engaging with the US to help develop their 10-year strategy for PNG . The Marape-Rosso Government has been working to re-engage PNG with the international community: through their engagement with the IMF and the World Bank, the engagement with the United States and our efforts to expand agriculture to become a supplier to the world.