Hillary Clinton to visit PNG

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the most powerful women on the planet, is expected to arrive in Papua New Guinea next Thursday and is “excited about the visit”. The diplomat’s high profile visit is part of a whirlwind tour of the Pacific that includes a visit to New Zealand and Australia, after a brief stop at Hawaii. High on the agenda on her visit to PNG will be “environmental protection and women’s empowerment”. He said the US diplomat was eager to set foot on PNG and hold bilateral meetings. Secretary Clinton will deliver a policy speech focused on Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 12, before crossing the Pacific to PNG where she will hold bilateral meetings and meet with local civil society leaders. Mrs Clinton follows in the footprints of her husband and former US President Bill Clinton who visited PNG in December 2006, to support the fight against HIV/AIDS. During that visit the former President was bestowed the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, the highest honors under the national honours system. But for Mrs Clinton, her visit is aimed at further enhancing bilateral relations between the super power and PNG, and comes only a month after US giant, Exxon Mobil, agreed to proceed with the biggest development project ever undertaken in PNG – the PNG LNG. Since being appointed by President Barrack Obama, Mrs Clinton has made outreach to civil society and the advancement of women's rights a key priority in her travels to developing nations. From PNG, she will visit Auckland, New Zealand on January 15, where she will meet with Prime Minister John Key and senior officials and later progress to Canberra and Melbourne, Australia on January 17, to discuss among other issues, key global and regional security challenges.