Nikkei Asian Review: Papua New Guinea Leader Keen to Keep Building LNG industry

Liquefied natural gas is driving Papua New Guinea's economy, and the Pacific nation's leader says there is still room to expand the energy sector. This, he suggested, would help the country to invest in its people.

While visiting Japan for the seventh Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, or PALM, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill spoke with the Nikkei Asian Review about Papua New Guinea's near-20% growth and the business opportunities that entails. He stressed Japan's importance as a trade partner for his country and invited further Japanese investment in an array of fields.

Q: How are your relations with Japan these days?

A: Japan is an important trading partner for Papua New Guinea, and has been so for the past 40 years, since we established the bilateral relationship. And Japan is by far one of the biggest investors in Papua New Guinea. So we would like to continue to strengthen that and build on that as our economy continues to grow.

Our economy is growing at close to 20% per annum, which is one of the fastest [growth rates] in the world. Of course, with that comes a lot of challenges. But we are working with partners like Japan in making sure that we take advantage of the opportunities a growing economy provides.

Japanese investment is very important to us, and also Japanese partnerships in some of the assistance programs. And, of course, Japan is a very strong partner in our international engagements, when we talk about global issues and regional issues. MORE