Minister for  Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Hon. Soroi Eoe has expressed his gratitude on behalf  of the government, to friends  and development partners  of Papua New Guinea,  for their continuous  and selfless  support  in   the  fight against  Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

He paid tribute to  various governments , represented by their respective embassies in the country, namely, the Republic of the   Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom, New Zealand, European Union, Japan, United States of America, France,  India, Australia  United Nations, World Health Organisation, and  UNICEF for their  contributions towards the COVAX facility.

Minister Eoe  while addressing  the successful   delivery of  132,000 doses of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility at APEC Haus Port Moresby, this afternoon, said  today’s event was   testament  of this partnership and multilateral collaboration.”

Mr Eoe further  acknowledges  the development partners , particularly, the  UN Family , World Health Organisation, and  the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), for their continuous support  during this time.

“Despite the negative impact of Covid 19  on global scale, including your own countries, those of you who are represented here today, as a developing nation, Papua New Guinea  is most grateful  to  you all.” PNG’s  bilateral and multilateral  partners have  continued to  support   the  government’s effort to  preventing the spread of  Covid- 19  in the   country since  March 2020. “Bilateral partnership  and multilateral  collaboration  lay a foundation for our fight  against Covid-19.

“ Let me  make  particular reference to various governments through your embassies in Papua New Guinea,  that have made contributions  to the Covid effort in the country. “To those of you who are present, representing  your governments,  I thank you for supporting our efforts, and making available these vaccines at this crucial time  of Papua New Guinea’s history.”

He added, “we uphold in  this fight together  and the best and most effective  way to win this fight is to  collectively  pull resources together  for our common good and benefit of mankind.” The  recent surge in the number of Covid-19 cases  in the country   has also  affected  many friends , relatives including  colleagues  and members of parliament, including the  way we are doing business.

Meanwhile, Mr Eoe acknowledges  the  Marape-Basil  government’s efforts to  reducing the spread of covid-19  in th country  through various measures being  undertaken, including  lockdowns,  travel restrictions,  mandatory wearing of face masks ,  and hygiene awareness. “And this 132,000  doses of vaccines  will certainly provide  some protections  to our frontline workers  who are most  at risks  to Covid -19 infections.

“These frontline workers play  an essential and  crucial role  in providing necessary  health care  services to our population , particularly vulnerable  segments  of our society.” He further  emphasised  government’s commitment   to  supporting the delivery of the vaccine rollout program through out the country.

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