Tuesday 11 August, 2026
Staff of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) have begun a three-day Certificate I Training on APEC as the department starts preparing officers for PNG’s future regional commitments.
The Certificate I Training: Induction and Introduction to APEC runs from Tuesday, August 11 to Thursday, August 13.
The training is being facilitated by Mr Lahui Ako, APEC Adviser to the Chief Secretary and APEC PNG Trainer and Assessor.
Mr Ako has previously served as Director-General of the PNG APEC Secretariat and was PNG’s APEC Senior Official during the country’s 2018 hosting.
DICT Deputy Secretary for Policy and Emerging Technology, Mr Flierl Shongol, opened the training on behalf of Secretary Steven Matainaho.
Mr Shongol thanked Mr Ako for accepting DICT’s invitation and recognised his contribution to PNG’s 2018 APEC preparations.
“Most of our staff here, some may have witnessed 2018 APEC, some of you may not. But Mr Ako is one of those core teams that were behind the whole of 2018 Papua New Guinea APEC,” Mr Shongol said.
He said the training was important for DICT as the department works to support the country’s move towards a digital economy.
“Everybody is going digital economy. We don’t want to be left behind,” he said.
Mr Shongol said the digital economy agenda also needed to be considered alongside the digital public infrastructure being developed by DICT.
He compared digital public infrastructure to public roads, saying it should provide a common platform that people can use instead of having separate systems built for different users.
“When we talk about digital economy, it’s about building a digital public infrastructure where all citizens will ride on it,” he said.
Mr Shongol urged officers to use the training to understand APEC’s priorities and look at how DICT’s policies and digital public infrastructure work can fit within those priorities.
“We need to understand what is APEC, what are those agendas, what are those policy objectives that APEC is driving,” he said.
Mr Ako said the training was not only about learning the basics of APEC, but about preparing a new group of Papua New Guinean public servants who will eventually take responsibility for the country’s APEC work.
He said the country needed to start preparing now, ahead of PNG’s next APEC hosting in 2033.
“Today what we intend on doing is to ensure that we have a suitably qualified, APEC-savvy, enthusiastic young Papua New Guineans who will drive this agenda in 2033,” Mr Ako said.
Mr Ako said the Certificate I training was the first step in a longer training program.
“There are four more sets to go,” he said.
He said the long-term target was to have about 300 public servants trained and working across different APEC policy areas.
The training is expected to build a group of officers who understand the work of APEC and can support PNG’s preparations as the country moves closer to 2033.
Mr Ako said the next generation of officers should be the ones representing PNG when the country hosts APEC again.
“The world must see that PNG has come of age,” he said.
He also reminded participants that APEC was not simply about hosting meetings.
“It is about bringing 21 countries together to drive our agenda,” Mr Ako said.
The training will introduce officers to APEC, its work and the responsibilities involved in supporting PNG’s participation in the regional forum.
Mr Ako also spoke about diplomacy and multilateral engagement, telling officers that part of their preparation would be learning how to work with other countries while advancing PNG’s interests.
The Certificate I training forms part of the early preparation for APEC 2033 and the wider effort to build the public service capacity needed to support PNG’s future regional engagements.
The first group of DICT officers will complete the three-day induction on Thursday, August 13.