Dede Sophie

 A proposal to establish an honorary consul in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi has been discussed in a bilateral meeting between Papua New Guinea and Vietnam’s Foreign Ministers. Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko met with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son during the APEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. Vietnam is a fast growing economy with robust levels of exports to countries within the region and Europe, and this opens the potential for PNG to engage more actively in trade and economic relations with Vietnam. Minister Tkatchenko said PNG is keen on building a diplomatic mission through the honorary consul that would eventually lead to an embassy as relations between both countries continue to grow.  Vietnam Foreign Affairs Minister Bui Thanh Son agreed that it was a great idea to have a PNG diplomatic mission established in Vietnam. He also proposed that both countries increase the exchange of high level visits and dialogues, as well as increase multilateral cooperation

Papua New Guinea’s Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) has announced the appointment of Erizo Kepe to the role of Manager, Environment Department. Ms Kepe was acting in this role since April 1st 2022 until her appointment on the 13th of February. Ms Kepe Ms Kepe’s appointment brings the total number of women managers in OTML to eight.  As part of its Vision 2025, OTML aims to increase the number of women in the organisation to 20% and have 25% in leadership roles by 2025.  OTML Acting General Manager, Community and Operations Support, Jesse Pile said Ms Kepe has demonstrated her leadership capabilities to lead the OTML environment team. Ms Kepe first joined OTML as a graduate trainee through the Company’s Graduate Development program in 2004. Since then, she has held various senior roles within the department as Senior Advisor Geochemistry in 2016 and Superintendent Riverine Management in 2020. Ms Kepe graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Papua New Guinea in 2003. “Ok