China has been lobbying the PNG Government for some time to agree to a multi-billion dollar "national highways program" that won't really benefit the rural majority or the nation as a whole.
It remains on the agenda. I suspect the requirement that the PNG Government guarantee the multi-billion dollar funding China insists on is an obstacle even for a government that has readily signed up to Belt and Road funding by Exim Bank and other PRC financiers.
Australia could drive an initiative to identify areas where substantial rural and main road infrastructure would enable farmers to lift agricultural production and secure better returns.
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Again it needs to be given high priority as many informed observers share my view that with national elections due next year China will be pushing even harder in the coming months for PNG to actually commit to its expensive, and highly questionable, highways proposal.
The standout features of the two proposals I have outlined are simple – they are high priority, they will genuinely benefit the people of Papua New Guinea, and they are expensive!
But if the "Build Back Better World" Partnership is to be effective in matching and eventually eroding "Belt and Road" they simply must be BIG and BOLD!
Anything short of that will simply embolden China's leadership to challenge our influence and effectiveness in the region even more than it is already doing.
There is just one more word that needs to be added to BIG and BOLD – URGENT!!!!
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