A historic visit from Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister cementing relations, business ties and highlighting the common threat of NCD’s taking so many unnecessary lives in PNG and the Solomons.
In what has been described as an historic three-day visit, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, the Hon. James Marape, visited Honiara last Thursday and brought with him a delegation of 42 business representatives from PNG.
The delegation members included Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Ministers and media representatives.
The visit was seen as an important step in renewing efforts by business leaders to further strengthen the business links between the two Melanesian countries.
Currently, there are 52 PNG businesses operating in the Solomon Islands.
During an official dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Marape, PM Sogavare said, “We need to do more individually and together to help reverse the current NCD epidemic in our countries. We need to pull our people back from the jaws of death,”
He went on to add, “Non-communicable diseases have evolved as the single largest killer of people in the Solomon Islands.
“Nearly 8 deaths out of every 10 deaths in the Solomon Islands are due to Non-communicable diseases. These deaths are largely preventable.”
During the weekend talks, Prime Minister Sogavare said he thanked the government of Papua New Guinea for pledging to provide K$40m towards the 2023 Pacific Games to be held in Honiara.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
