Papua New Guinea is calling on APEC countries to be more inclusive of smaller nations in their trading strategy and policy.
The PNG Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, Charles Abel, made the call at the APEC 2015 meeting in the Philippines on Opening New Market Frontiers for Small Firms.
Port Moresby Photo: AFP
Mr Abel says as the smallest APEC country Papua New Guinea is wary of trading its natural resources to larger countries or corporations which have no interest in the long-term development of PNG.
" Countries like Papua New Guinea that are resource rich. We have got to make sure that these rules allow us to develop a sustainable, inclusive, meaningful, long-term economic foundations. Not find ourselves with a, at the end of the day with a large population and essentially our assets stripped. And then try and then repair the damage after the fact."
PNG National Planning and Monitoring Minister Charles Abel
The 2015 APEC meeting in the Philippines aims to open up cross-border opportunities for small firms within Pacific Rim economies.
