BY JARED KOLI
THE Papua New Guinea (PNG) High Commission Office in Honiara commemorated in recognition of its neighbour Solomon Islands on attaining its 43 years of nationhood.
PNG High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Moses Kaul and his staff held a low-key commemoration ceremony on Monday to celebrate the country’s 43rd anniversary.
Speaking during the event, Mr Kaul said on behalf of the government and people of Papua New Guinea, the High Commission of PNG in Honiara recognises the 43rd independence anniversary of Solomon Islands.
“That is the reason why we organise this small refreshment in the chancery to give that recognition and respect to our neighbours Solomon Islands.
“We PNG attached a lot of significance with our relationship to our neighbour country Solomon Islands. Its more than bilateral relationship because we identify ourselves as friends, with a common identity as Melanesians,” Kaul said.
He said Solomon Islands and PNG also have a common spirit of cooperation, and carry the same values attached to common traditions, common cultural heritage, values and even history.
“For that matter, I should also say that we carry the same lingua franca, we are people with common identity, and so we are proud, and wish all the people of this beautiful country and leaders, especially the Governor General Sir David Vunagi and Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, all the leaders, all the people of this country, the very best wishes and happy joyous Independence Day celebration.
“We believe that our God will continue to protect and guide us, especially when we go through this difficult time when COVID-19 affects a lot of our businesses, affect a lot of affairs, in politics and every other aspect of our society, we believe God will still protect us and continue to take us until we can be able to see what tomorrow offers, and we know that God is still good and will still going to protect us,” Kaul said.
He said Solomon Islands and PNG share a lot of the aspects of cooperation and relationship, and their technical aspect of cooperation is going on very well.
“As far as training and study programs being offered to SI students studying in PNG – I have seen evidence of that and I am proud to say that this will continue as assured by PNG Prime Minister James Marape when he was in Honiara last year, 2020.”
He said Prime Minister Marape also signed an economic and framework agreement with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare then.
“So, we are looking forward to enhancing that area of cooperation because we believe that it is very vital for the sustenance and long-term cooperation of our two countries,” Kaul said.
