SOLOMON Islands High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea (PNG), His Excellency William Soaki met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Papua New Guinea, Honourable Justin Tkatchenko and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to closer cooperation with PNG.
The meeting convened last week was initiated after the reinstatement of Tkatchenko as the Foreign Affairs Minister.
The meeting provided an opportunity for HE Soaki and Minister Tkatchenko to gauge outstanding on issues between Solomon Islands and PNG and provide reaffirmation of closer cooperation into the future.
HE Soaki also used the opportunity to convey a message of solidarity and support from Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to the government and people of PNG following the aftermath of the 10 January 2024 unrest in Port Moresby.
High Commissioner Soaki congratulated Minister Tkatchenko on his reinstatement to the Foreign Affairs Ministerial portfolio.
He thanked the Government of PNG for the generous support rendered to Solomon Islands Government throughout the preparatory stages of the 2023 Pacific Games to the conclusion.
Special mention was made of the Grant Aid invested in the construction of the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) Academy which will be of great value to the people of Solomon Islands going forward.
The Soaki-Tkatchenko discussions also touched on the two recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU’s) on Police Deployment and Immigration Cooperation which has fulfilled their relevance.
The Royal PNG Constabulary’s presence in the Solomon Islands for the duration of the Pacific Games was a major boost to maintaining the country’s law and order. Prior to that, there have been four deployments since the November 2021 Honiara riots.
The PNG Immigration & Citizenship Services Authority’s assistance in providing capacity through technical know-how and human resources support to the Solomon Islands Immigration Department (SIID) has enabled the Department to facilitate a high number of arrivals and departures from the Solomon Islands.
HE Soaki said, “there are outstanding MOUs and agreements that are currently under consideration by respective authorities well as those that have been cleared and ready for signatures”.
In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Tkatchenko congratulated the Government and People of Solomon Islands for the successful hosting of the 17th Pacific Games.
He stressed that maintaining the facilities will be a challenge going forward, however stated that Solomon Islands can always seek guidance from PNG if the need arises.
Minister Tkatchenko thanked the HE Soaki for the updates provided and urged officers present at the meeting to ensure that work towards the signing of the documents be finalized.
He said PNG as the big Melanesian brother stands ready to assist Solomon Islands whenever possible.
Also present at the meeting was Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs of PNG, Elias Wohengu and Second Secretary of the Solomon Islands High Commission in Port Moresby Ms Mary Walenenea.
(MFAET/SOLSTAR)
