PNG needs 'big time dollars' not lipservice from US President Joe Biden says the chief executive of a Papua New Guinea think tank.
The President of the United States is due to land in Papua New Guinea for a three-hour stop-over on May 22 according to PNG media, jammed in between the G7 Summit in Japan and a Quad leaders' meeting in Australia.
An Independent group in PNG that lobbies the government on key issues including geopolitics between China and US, is unconvinced the stop-over will amount to much.
"I don't know what the US's intentions are? They're basically thinking that just by the President spending three hours with us and signing some agreement that will keep away the Chinese. That's just bullshit!" PNG Think Tank Group CEO Samson Komati said.
US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Belfast International Airport on 11 April. Photo: AFP / Clodagh Kilcoyne
Komati believes the US has a track record of talking, but said with a seriously high unemployment rate in PNG, Biden will need to do a lot more on this flying visit than just pay lip service if he wants to leave a lasting impression in PNG.
It comes as the strategic rivalry between the United States and China intensifies, compounded by the recent AUKUS security agreement between the US, Australia and the UK.
"China, the way it's coming into the Pacific is very, very strong, and very big. They have a lot of money.
"We want to work with the Chinese. The Chinese bring in money. They don't talk and sign treaties and dump us and take off," Komati said.
He said he views the visit as nothing more than some muscle-flexing by Washington directed at China which has a strong links with PNG.
"The message I would get to President Biden is, 'please, we need a lot of American companies, American technologies, American investors, and also the American Peace Corps and American missionaries into our country'.
"We need more development in this country. We have more resources, we just don't have the capital to convert these resources into monetary terms and growing our economy and employing our people and empowering our people.
"So we are stuck here," Komati said.
RNZ Pacific has contacted the White House for comment.
US President Joe Biden (C) and leaders from the Pacific Islands region pose for a photograph on the North Portico of the White House September 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / AFP
Washington has confirmed Joe Biden is to meet with Pacific leaders on top of a meeting with PNG Prime Minister James Marape during his brief visit.
In its statement, the White House called the US a Pacific nation.
"As a Pacific nation, the United States has deep historical and people-to-people ties with the Pacific Islands."
The meeting is a follow-up on the first-ever US-Pacific Island Summit in Washington last year.
After that meeting, PIF Secretary General Henry Puna highlighted the significance of the relationship when telling RNZ Pacific about the Forum's priorities for 2023 back in January.
"First and foremost priority on our list is an increased political engagement at the diplomatic level with Washington and in that respect I am pleased to say that President Biden has announced Frankie Reed as the US Special Envoy to the Forum.
"It is a done deal - for me, that indicates how serious the US is about the undertakings that they made at that summit," he said.
The Pacific Islands Forum leaders are to discuss climate change, protecting maritime resources, and advancing "resilient and inclusive economic growth" with Joe Biden when in PNG, according to the White House statement.
India
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced he'll meet with Pacific Island leaders in Port Moresby on his way from Japan to Australia, arriving on the same day as President Biden.
Komati believes there is a real potential to tap into the South Asian giant.
"It's a boost for our nation to open trade and attract more investors into PNG from India," he said.
He added that India is strong in medical technology and ICT, both areas that PNG needs support in.
"We have a shortage of doctors and nurses. We have a big shortage of teachers in universities and colleges and technical schools. We can source a lot of help from India in that regard."
Komati encouraged the Indian Prime Minister to open doors for more investment by the Indian business community in PNG.
RNZ has reached out to the Prime Minister of PNG, James Marape for comment, he is yet to respond.
Photo: AFP/Oliver Contreras
