The Prime Minister Peter O’Neill now returns from attending CHOGM and foreign Minister Rimbik Pato just concluded successful talks with Singapore which has pledged support and assistance for APEC 2018.

Elsewhere other ministerial envoys are conducting business with either technical or financial institutions on behalf of the State.

It is a very well known fact that PNG is currently not in the best of financial health and hosting APEC would seem to now be more than a mammoth task.

PNG’s position is quite precarious but, this does not mean that it cannot wedge itself out of its current difficulties.

On the one end we have a mountain full of domestic problems, but on the international scene we have avenues where we can draw relief in order abate the current financial difficulties.

This is where the world of diplomacy must come into play.

The Prime Minister has already taken the lead and like the Foreign Minister, both must harness the available reciprocal benefits of being members of these international organisations.

PNG’s Commonwealth friends as always remain assuring and PM O’Neill’s attendance last week of CHOGM is that confirmation of being an active member in fulfillment of the organisation’s requirements.

In this case this is a leader that is playing his part at his level, and it is now up to the technical cooperation sector to follow up on the many aspects of the resolutions passed that will benefit PNG.

A problem PNG always has is its lack of draw down capacity on many of the concessional loans or bilateral assistance offered during such meetings.

The Prime Minister conducted successful discussions in the fight against malaria while there, but our problem here is implementation of assistance offered by international foundations.

Minister Pato spoke with his Singaporean counterpart who is more than willing to assist in the staging of APEC 2018 in PNG.

The Minister has also received similar assurances from his other counterparts in APEC countries.

The big but is, how PNG utilises these offered assistance in whatever format they are given.

It is one thing to have and maintain top diplomatic relations, but it is another in having the technical capability to absorb the type of assistance always offered.

For APEC, PNG is fully backed up by the organisation’s technical establishment and for this the country must be grateful.

The country has already displayed certain levels of its capabilities in preparing for APEC, therefore the more vital PNG’s diplomatic efforts must move ahead to the required level.

With CHOGM’s input into assisting a member country host an APEC meeting, the real quality of PNG’s diplomatic efforts must materialise at all cost.