Prime Minister (PM) James Marape and his entourage arrived back in country this morning, touching down in Port Moresby satisfied with the outcomes of his visits to both Indonesia and Japan. At a press conference shortly after landing, Marape said the trips to both countries was a successful one, having signed agreements and strengthening trade, investments and political ties. He said Papua New Guinea’s relations with Indonesia is now at its highest-level following talks of trade and the signing of four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), two for the transport sector between the two countries, one for education and another for health. Marape said the MoU for the transportation sector should enable ease of vehicles, vessels and aircrafts to move between the two countries, while the MoU for health should boost assistance to improve PNG’s health sector. He further stated that the MoU for Education should see some great assistance from it, with Indonesia offering 2, 000 spaces for PNG students on scholarships to study in universities and colleges in Indonesia. He said Indonesia is a big importer of PNG goods and is also big on downstream processing, something which PNG can learn from their various models and apply in the country. “They have advised us to pick up their business model. They have 51 to 49 percent equity arrangements in most of their large-scale investments in Indonesia,” said Marape. “Indonesia market is ready for our produce, like wise Indonesian businesses have offered to come for a shared partnership with us in business.” Meanwhile, for the Japan visit on the back of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM), further trade talks where hosted which PNG further strengthened its trade ties with Japan. “Conversation for PNG context, we talked around how Japan as a partner nation, can partner small island nations to ensure their resources are harvested properly and benefits go back to the countries concern.” He said this covers all resources, including fisheries like tuna which PNG is one of the big exporting countries in the pacific. Climate change mitigation was also on the agenda where Japan assured the pacific leaders that it is taking measures to prevent further impacts, including the release of the Fukushima Niuclear Wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, of which the Japan PM Fumio Kishida assured the pacific leaders that the discharge was being conducted in compliance with international safety standards and practices. Meantime, PM Marape said that PNG is now looking forward to the 2025 Osaka Expo in Japan where PNG aims to further market itself to the Asian markets.