Papua New Guinea is to appoint a special envoy to deal with matters related to the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Bernama News reports the appointment reflects PNG's determination to become a full member of the 10-member ASEAN bloc and to expedite the process.
PNG's Ambassador in Indonesia, Peter Ilau, says the envoy will look further at multilateral issues in ASEAN as well as the prerequisites to becoming a full member.
Mr Ilau is leading PNG's delegation for the senior officials' meeting held in conjunction with the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week.
He says most of the prerequisites are economy-related, such as capacity building in terms of trading, import export arrangements and business links.
Mr Ilau says PNG understands ASEAN countries are planning to form an economic community by the end of this year.
He says PNG is doing the necessary things to prepare itself for integration.