The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Justin Tkatchenko, CBE, BEM, OL, MP, wrapped up his high-level official engagements in Geneva recently following a meeting with Dr. Ngozi Nokonjo-lweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Minister Tkatchenko was in Gevena over the past five days to official opening of the Permanent Mission of PNG to the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other International Organizations. 

The Minister congratulated the Director General on her reappointment for another term and mentioned that Papua New Guinea supported her reappointment in recognition of her exceptional leadership in presiding over international trade discussions and her steadfast support for the international rules-based trading system. 

In reaffirming this support, Minister Tkatchenko informed the Director General about the opening of the new Permanent Mission of Papua New Guinea in Geneva and stated that PNG will work closely with Dr. Ngozi and the members of the WTO to navigate these trying times in global trade and to continue to uphold the values and principles of the rules based multilateral trading system”. 

The Minister welcomed the Director General’s strong support for Papua New Guinea’s advocacy on forest conservation and sustainable forest management. He thanked WTO for its willingness to assist PNG by coordinating a joint side event or information session for the big rainforest nations, including Brazil, Congo, and Papua New Guinea during the Conference of the Parties (COP30) in November 2025 in Brazil. Papua New Guinea and other rainforest nations are expected to use this occasion to announce what they can offer in terms of sustainable forest conversation projects for funding by global financial institutions including World Bank. 

“Papua New Guinea houses the third largest natural rainforest in the world and was extremely keen on its preservation and sustainability for the huge majority of Papua New Guineans who live in the rural areas and continue to rely on the forests for their daily sustenance and livelihood,” Minister Tkatchenko said.  

He further stated that the government was working in close collaboration with various development partners to develop and implement conversation projects in sustainable forestry management and to develop different models on how Papua New Guinea can be compensated for preserving its forests under the carbon credit arrangements. 

The Minister noted that PNG was already implementing a USDI00 million project funded through European Union and the Republic of France and number of other development partners on Forestry, Climate and Biodiversity by developing various sustainable forest management projects in different forest area in PNG such as the Managalas project in the Oro Province. 

In the discussions on the impact of the imposition of tariffs by the United States with the Director General, the Minister informed that this was minimal on PNG and we were able to cushion the impact on our economy because PNG had a very small volume of trade with the United States. 

On fisheries, the Minister also acknowledged that PNG remains one of the only fourteen countries that are yet to ratify the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. He informed that PNG has completed internal consultations and the process for ratification was now in motion with a view to having the Agreement ratified before the end of the year. 

He further took note of the Director-General’s desire to have the Agreement ratified by June 9, 2025 in time for the Oceans Conference in Nice, France where the WTO intends to announce the entry into force of the Agreement and assured that Papua New Guinea will endeavor to ensure the Agreement is ratified by them. 

Ends///