Coup for PNG as 'least liveable' city to host 2018 APEC summit

Port Moresby, PNG. Getty Images.

PORT Moresby which regularly tops tables as the world's least liveable city - is to host the APEC summit in 2018. 

It is an extraordinary coup for Papua New Guinea to host the summit to be attended by the world's most powerful leaders from countries including the US, China, Russia, Indonesia and Japan.

PNG's can-do Prime Minister Peter O'Neill pulled off the coup in the final hours of the APEC meeting in Bali on Tuesday evening.

It will present a major challenge for the country and for the city, whose governor Powes Parkop last week launched a battle against the odds to ban betelnut from the streets its chewers stain red.

Mr O'Neill said the decision by the 21 APEC leaders was a tremendous vote of confidence in PNG as a regional partner gaining greater standing and influence year by year.

The task of hosting such a major event imposed enormous strains on the capacity and security organisation in 2007 of Sydney, which had seven years earlier hosted an Olympic Games. PNG will require major assistance from Australia.

The event will also provide opportunities for Australian firms to become involved in the preparation and staging, including building fresh infrastructure.

Mr O'Neill said the summit would mark a "coming of age" for PNG on the international stage, 43 years after the nation became independent from Australia.

"The APEC nations account for close to half the world's trade and commerce. By hosting the 2018 leaders' summit we will have the unique and historic opportunity to showcase our rich culture, our robust democracy, and the tremendous trade and investment opportunities we offer," he said.

The government, he said, would begin planning immediately, "and I know that we have the wholehearted support of the nation as we do so"

The Australian