Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape promoted the country as an investment destination of choice among global emerging markets during the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos.
Speaking on a panel titled “Where are we with emerging markets?” at a WEF side meeting, Marape said Papua New Guinea’s economy has continued to grow despite heightened geopolitical tensions in the Pacific region.
He thanked the World Economic Forum for including Papua New Guinea in discussions on emerging markets and said the country’s geographic and political positioning underpins its appeal to investors.
“Papua New Guinea is placed in the middle of East and West, with our cultural affinity to the East and our democratic style of government with the West,” Marape said.
The prime minister said his government has pursued a foreign policy of “friends to all and enemies to none,” seeking to strike a careful balance in international relations while strengthening the country’s standing as an emerging economy in the post-COVID period.
As a result, he said, Papua New Guinea has recorded economic growth of more than 4 percent consistently over the past five years, while keeping inflation below the 50-year running average.
Marape said the government is working to diversify the economy away from its traditional reliance on mining and petroleum, with a greater emphasis on developing the non-resource sectors.
He told delegates that Papua New Guinea currently hosts two of the world’s largest oil and gas developers, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil has operated the country’s flagship liquefied natural gas project since 2008, with first exports in 2014.
“Seventy percent of the US$22 billion project was bank financed, and that debt has recently been retired six months earlier than scheduled,” Marape said.
He said emerging markets are increasingly where new capital is concentrated, noting that capital “knows no boundaries” and will shift when markets become constrained or economic focus narrows.
Marape concluded by encouraging greater investment in emerging markets in South-East Asia and the Pacific, highlighting Papua New Guinea’s strategic location within the region.
