TWO EVENTS, TWO PURPOSES

Mr Smaré said PNG’s resource sector now runs on two major annual events – PNG Resources Week, held in Port Moresby, and PNG Investment Week, hosted overseas.

“PNG Resources Week was our biggest in-country event,” he said. “It was massive we had more than a thousand people attending over four days. It was where we talked about the honest issues, the successes, the challenges all of it.”

This year’s Resources Week was staged from July 28-31 at APEC Haus, accompanied by a month-long public exhibition celebrating PNG’s mining and petroleum history.

“It was a phenomenal conference,” Mr Smaré said. “When we ran something similar in Lae a few years ago, we actually ran out of hotel rooms. That’s how big it gets.”

WHY SYDNEY WORKS

While Resources Week focused on domestic dialogue, PNG Investment Week is all about global engagement.

“We do it overseas because it’s an investment conference,” Mr Smaré said. “We want to attract people from around the world and for most of them, it’s simply easier o fly into Australia than to Papua New Guinea.”

He explained that visa-free entry, world-class hotels, and international flight connections make Sydney a practical hub.

“Last year, we had 1,800 people attend from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, India, Asia, the U.S., even Russia,” Mr Smaré said. “We could not accommodate that number in Port Moresby at the level they expect.”

BRINGING PNG TO THE WORLD

For Mr Smaré, the overseas event is not about taking PNG business offshore it’s about bringing PNG to the investors.

“When we go to Sydney, we take everyone government, landowners, project operators,” he said. “We show potential investors that the people of PNG are good partners to do business with.”

He said the format allows PNG to meet directly with new companies that may have hesitated to invest due to outdated perceptions.

“The media overseas might tell them PNG is risky,” he said. “But when they meet our landowners, our leaders, our companies they see for themselves that we’re open, capable, and serious about responsible development.”

SUCCESS THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Mr Smaré said this strategy has worked for decades.

“Many of the companies now operating in PNG first came into contact with us through these international conferences,” he said. “The Chamber of Mines and Petroleum has been doing this since the 1980s and it continues to deliver results.”

He added that both events Resources Week in Port Moresby and Investment Week abroad complement each other.

“The overseas event brings the investors to us. The local event brings Papua New Guineans together to discuss how our resource projects can work better for us,” he said.

PNG’S OPEN INVITATION

Mr Smaré urged Papua New Guineans to take pride in both events, saying they each play a vital role in shaping the nation’s economic future.

“When people hear about the Sydney event, they shouldn’t ask why we’re doing it overseas,” he said. “They should recognise that we already have a very big, very successful event here at home.”

“Sydney is not about taking PNG away — it’s about bringing the world closer to PNG.”