World leaders descended on Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, as the annual APEC Summit is underway. This is the first APEC meeting for Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Vietnamese President Nguyễn Phú Trọng. Among the missing are Russian President Vladimir Putin, with now Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev serving in his stead, and United States President Donald Trump, represented by Vice President Mike Pence. Regardless of attendees, this is the first summit being held in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea is the poorest of the 21 countries representing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) alliance. It also ranks 130th worldwide in Gross Domestic Product and 135th in the Corruption Perception Index, leaving it as one of the poorest and most dangerous nations. Port Moresby is consistently listed among the most dangerous cities, and as home to the infamous street gang “The Raskols”, who are known for the propagation of high rape, murder, and carjacking statistics. Despite this, all delegates will be staying in the host country with the exception of Mike Pence. Feathers have been ruffled over this decision. Instead, Vice President Pence will fly back and forth from the city of Cairns, Australia, for various meetings.
Papua New Guinea is well aware of these statistics and has taken measures to ensure the safety of all leaders involved in the summit. A multinational force of 4,000 foreign military personnel, elite counterterrorism units, and air and sea support has moved into Port Moresby to bolster the efforts of the local police. The country claims that safety is nothing to worry about during this summit. Questions arise over whether this is enough, as 15,000 delegates are expected in the coming weeks, along with 5,000 to 7,000 other foreign tourists. Attendees will spend their stay in one of three cruise ships docked on the shoreline- a replacement for the lack of hotels in the area to accommodate the large influx of visitors.
In the past month, the country has faced various riots over the event. With the purchase of various luxury vehicles, including Maseratis and Bentleys priced upwards of USD$150,000, when local hospitals can barely afford medication for the sick, locals are understandably resentful of the fanfare and showmanship provided for the summit. It becomes clear, though, that the usefulness of the summit has not been explained to citizens, as anything they have spent on the year-long task will be paid back and then some.
Success for Papua New Guinea will take far more than an incident-free summit, however. Johnathon Pryke, Director of the Pacific Islands Program for Lowy Institute, told The Guardian that “everyone has a different story about how APEC ended up in Papua New Guinea”. Truthfully, it began with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when the idea was run by her at a Pacific Island Leaders Forum in 2012. “While she was keen on the idea, the United States and Australian governments were not,” he continued. Despite this, Papua New Guinea was selected as the 2018 host in 2013 because their economic trajectory predicted that an event as such would be necessary to revive the markets. An outbreak of polio and an unexpected collapse in the oil market reinforced the need for the summit.
Papua New Guinea sees this as an opportunity to emerge with trade deals, enhanced awareness of their country on a global scale, and a chance to diversify their economy. Australia has donated AU$130 million in the past for security in an effort to keep Chinese troops out of Papua New Guinea, whose closest border to Australia is only 4 kilometers away. In addition, they have pledged AU$3 billion in funding. Topping this will be Papua New Guinea’s borderline-worship of China, which pledged $3.94 billion in loans and aid in 2017. It’s likely that China could provide more investments and aid during the summit.
Within the past week alone, Papua New Guinea has seen an incredible intake of aid from various countries. It is expected that, if used correctly, it could spur their economy to support a population the size of Australia by the year 2050. Until then, we can expect big things from a flourishing revitalization of Papua New Guinea’s economy.
First published in print by The Stillman Exchange on November 18, 2018.
