Prime Minister  James Marape extends his heartfelt appreciation to Indonesian President H.E. Joko Widodo for his immensely successful one-day visit to Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The visit resulted in several significant accomplishments and outcomes.

Reflecting on the visit as President Widodo departed Port Moresby, Prime Minister Marape expressed his jubilation and commendation for the fruitful discussions and achievements reached during the high-level engagement.

"We are deeply honored to host President Widodo, especially considering Indonesia's remarkable position as the 16th-largest economy in the world with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of US$1.392 trillion and the 7th-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP of US$4.398 trillion. We are privileged to have such an economic giant as our neighbor," Prime Minister Marape remarked.

He further emphasised the significance of President Widodo's monumental visit, which focused not only on government-to-government matters but also on the core objectives of Marape's Pangu Pati: fostering economic growth and enhancing commerce and trade relations.

"The business relations between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have reached unprecedented levels," Prime Minister Marape declared. 

"We have opened the doors for increased business-to-business engagements between our two countries."

To facilitate this collaboration at the highest level, Prime Minister Marape announced the establishment of a task force, led by Deputy Prime Minister Hon. John Rosso and International Trade and Investment Minister Hon. Richard Maru, in partnership with the Indonesian counterparts.

One of the notable achievements of the visit was the agreement for Indonesia to sponsor 2,000 Papua New Guinean students to pursue higher education in Indonesian colleges and universities. Prime Minister Marape highlighted the reciprocity of the arrangement, stating, "For every student Indonesia sponsors, we will match their support by sponsoring another student from Papua New Guinea. We aim to foster increased business-to-business and people-to-people rela...

Tiny metal fragments recovered from an interstellar object that crashed into the Pacific Ocean appear 'artificial in origin', scientists say. A Harvard duo recovered 50 unusual iron spheres after tracking down the unidentified object, known as IM1, off the coast of Papua New Guinea last week as part of a $ 1.5 million underwater search mission. New lab analysis of the metal spheres reveals they are 'anomalous' and stronger than any observed meteor produced by nature, according to Professor Avi Loeb, former chair of Harvard's astronomy department who led the research.

070723 STATUS OF MV TULELE QUERIED IN PARLIAMENT
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The ABG Vice President and member for Halia, HON PATRICK NISIRA said that the status of the MV TULELE will be decided and members notified on what action the government will take either to dispose it similar to her past sisters, Sankamap one and two.
The vice president said the total cost of anchorage will also be made known then.
MR. NISIRA said that the ship has had many problems as it was not licensed by the National Maritime and Safety Authority because they said it did not meet the NMSA safety requirements to operate in Papua New Guinea.
And it required some funds to change some specifications to meet those requirements.
Because of delays in making the necessary changes, wharfage charges also increased making it too costly.
The Minister made these comments when replying to Questions by the member for South Nasioi, HON JUSTIN BORGIA who wanted to know the status of the ship which was an eye sore to the public now.
Supplementary questions were made by the member for KOKODA, HON RODNEY OSIOCO who wanted the Government of the day must make a decision to either dispose it or do something about it.
Another supplementary question was made by the member for Nissan, DIDYMUS KISO NAPTO who wanted to know the bill to date and would come from which vote.
Minister NISIRA replied that he will meet with his officers and come with the bill incurred so far.
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JAKARTA Most of Indonesias carbon-rich peatlands arent protected, according to a new study that calls for prioritizing much-needed restoration efforts for these areas. The recently published paper shows that less than 16% of Indonesias 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) of peatlands are protected by law. The researchers, from universities in Italy, Malaysia and Australia, also found that the area of peatland in need of restoration interventions amounted to 4.2 million hectares (10.4 million acres), representing 28.7% of the total study area. This is much higher than the Indonesian governments target of restoring 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of peatland by 2024. Lead author Dilva Terzano, a climate finance specialist at the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said she was inspired to conduct the research after having worked in Indonesia on peatland sustainable management and restoration for years, through a partnership with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MOEF). And what was evident was the discrepancy between the conservation areas delineation in the country, and the recent exercise undertaken by MOEF of mapping the peatlands in the whole country, Terzano told Mongabay in an email. A peatland forest in Indonesian Borneo. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. The study identified the largest unprotected peatland area in Indonesia as being in the Papua region (2.5 million hectares, or 6.2 million acres), followed by Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, at 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres), and Sumatra (1.9 million hectares, or 4.7 millionThis article was originally published on Mongabay