Prime Minister James Marape has called on investors to support Papua New Guinea’s transformation from a resource-dependent economy to a manufacturing and green-energy powerhouse, outlining a 20-year vision during a live Q&A session with Australian journalist Tracey Spicer at PNG Investment Week.
Looking ahead to 2040 and 2050, Marape emphasised the need for ordinary Papua New Guineans to feel the benefits of investment through the growth of local businesses and the export of finished, high-value products.
“Incubate more local business and migrate to a manufacturing-based economy,” he said. “Local produce must translate to finished products for export.”
Marape told investors that the government is working to shift PNG from “resource potential to a predictable pipeline of financeable, climate-resilient projects” capable of attracting global capital at scale.
He also confirmed PNG’s ambition to define itself internationally as a clean, green energy economy, powered by the country’s hydro resources and supported by its forests and oceans.
“Australia is moving towards closing their fossil fuel facilities. We’re looking at supplying Australia with energy harvested from PNG,” Marape said. “Our negative carbon footprint is an advantage we offer investors.”
He highlighted the potential for carbon-offset markets to become a significant revenue source, urging companies with substantial emissions to partner with PNG in conservation efforts. “Conservation dollars could become a major new revenue stream,” he said, noting that such partnerships would help keep forests standing.
To create a safer environment for investors, Marape pledged full-scale reform and expansion of police and justice institutions, aiming to strengthen governance and ensure security across the nation.
Marape projected that Papua New Guinea could surpass K200 billion GDP by 2030 and K500 billion by 2045, stressing that prosperity must be broadly shared. He said the nation must become “a prosperous, healthy and wealthy country — a blessing to investors and citizens alike.”
As the session closed, Spicer congratulated the Prime Minister on PNG’s milestones. Marape’s final message was one of partnership and shared opportunity: “There will be enough on the table for everyone who chooses to live and operate in PNG.”
