Photo: PNG Minister for ICT Timothy Masiu and UAE Minister of State for Economic and Commercial Affairs, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi.
PNG Minister for ICT Timothy Masiu and UAE Minister of State for Economic and Commercial Affairs Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh had a high-level discourse on trade and ICT in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi recently.
Minister Masiu informed Minister Al Sayegh that both PNG and the UAE have maintained cordial and friendly ties since signing the Joint Communique in New York, USA in 2017.
“PNG highly values the cordial bilateral relationship between our two countries and there is a strong willingness on the part of the PNG Government to further strengthen and deepen the relationship.”
Minister Masiu mentioned that the UAE Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nayan, visited Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 2014, and that this was reciprocated by Minister Masiu's visit recently, following the visit in 2021 by Walter Schnaubelt, the former PNG Minister for Forestry.
“I encourage both countries to further enhance high-level visits at both the leaders’ and officials’ level.”
Minister Masiu said he went to Expo2020 to take advantage of any chances presented by the event and to interact with the UAE on a political level in order to advance bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit in cultural exchanges, tourism, commerce and investment, and people-to-people connection.
Minister Masiu went on to highlight PNG's desire to begin negotiations with the UAE on an information and communication technology memorandum of understanding, citing the UAE as a global pioneer in digital transformation.
“The PNG Government has a digital transformation policy and a desire to modernize its whole-of-government ICT infrastructure and shared services. It cannot do that by itself and is seeking international support through long-term partnership arrangements and with like-minded countries like the UAE.”
Minister Masiu stated that the UAE has a sophisticated digital infrastructure and an artificial intelligence agenda and that the PNG government is seeking the UAE's help and commitment to PNG's modernization initiatives through bilateral, technical, and business-to-business collaboration.
Minister Masiu stated that Dubai's and the UAE's economic success is an outstanding case of strategic technology investment, as detailed in the Digital Transformation in UAE 2020 study.
“Papua New Guinea is very keen to explore bilateral support in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) space, technology investments and explore trade opportunities that will be of mutual benefit.”
His Excellency Mr Joshua Kalinoe, Papua New Guinea's Ambassador to Belgium, the European Union, and the United Arab Emirates, and Commissioner-General of the PNG Pavilion at the Dubai 2020 Expo accompanied Minister Masiu.
Reference: Papua New Guinea World Expo 2020 (30 January 2022). “Minister Masiu meets U.A.E. Minister of State for Economic and Commercial Affairs: Seeks Cooperation”.
