CANBERRA: Papua New Guinea has opened its door to invest from China, Australia and any other country. Gunea’s prime minister said Monday his South Pacific island nation was open to investment from any nations that is willing to work within the country’s rules.
Marape said while Australia was the biggest investor in Papua New Guinea, his government treated all investors equally.
“Whether they are from China or Australia or right across the world is inconsequential and irrelevant to us,” Marape told reporters.
“We will have an equal playing field for every investor as long as they subscribe to the rules and regulations of our country,” he said. “Chinese investors will not receive any special treatment and preference, just like Australian investors will not receive any special favor or treatment.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government wanted to ensure that each of its Pacific neighbors were “as independent and as sovereign and are in as much in charge of their future as they possibly can be.”
Marape’s visit comes as Australia attempts to counter China’s growing influence in the South Pacific by teaming with the United States and Japan to finance infrastructure in Pacific island states that the Chinese have aggressively wooed with loans and aid.
(Agencies)
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