European Union helps Papua New Guinea to boost trade

Media Statement 

The Trade Division of the Department of Trade Commerce and Industry is pleased to announce the

commencement of activities of the EU funded Trade Related Assistance Programme to PNG, Phase 2 (TRA 2).

The Trade Related Assistance Programme supports Papua New Guinea in its efforts to use trade for inclusive

development. It provides assistance to strengthen the capacity of the Department so that balanced beneficial

trade policies can be developed and implemented, policies that are developed in an inclusive process with

private sector and civil society, that help the country. The programme will also support PNG customs to deal

even better with its various functions and tasks to ensure the smooth flow of trade.

The TRA 2 programme, to the tune of 6.7 million EUR or 20 million PGK, is implemented by the PNG

government under the leadership of the Department of Trade Commerce and Industry, and has three

components: support to institutional reform and strengthening of trade institutions; National Trade Policy

and international trade agenda development and trade facilitation support.

The programme will hold its National Launch Workshop on 23 & 24 February 2015 at the Gateway Hotel,

which will include consultations with various agencies to help develop the work programme for the first year

of the three-year implementation period. The workshop will be opened by representatives of the the

Department for Trade, Commerce & Industry, the Department for National Planning and Monitoring and the

European Union Ambassador to PNG, HE Mr Martin Dihm.

Building on the foundations of TRA I, which took place from 2009 to 2011, the second Phase of the

programme has been designed to enable PNG to reap even more benefits from the trade agreement

concluded between Papua New Guinea and the European Union, the "interim Economic Partnership

Agreement" (iEPA). It is estimated that the iEPA significantly contributed to the creation of over 40,000 jobs

in the fisheries sector alone. This is only as an intermediate step towards extending the benefits beyond 

fisheries, in particular to offer opportunities and help income and job generation in sustainable agriculture

and forestry.

Direct beneficiaries of the programme are the Government of Papua New Guinea, including relevant traderelated

stakeholder groups, government departments, institutions, organizations and enterprises, including

those concerned with quality infrastructure, regulatory control, standardization and accreditation and

customs procedures. The ultimate beneficiaries will be the Papua New Guinean society in general, through

the increased trade capacity and investment attraction, which should lead to employment creation and

poverty alleviation.

For further information, contact the Trade Division on 3256099.