Papua New Guinea's prime minister says the government has minimised costs where possible for next month's APEC summit.
PNG PM Peter O'Neill Photo: AFP / Peter Parks
Peter O'Neill said this included importing luxury cars at no cost to his government for use in the big summit.
Forty Maserati sedans arrived in Port Moresby from Italy last week, to be used for ferrying around APEC leaders and other dignitaries.
Amidst public outrage about the deal, Mr O'Neill said the cars would be sold to the private sector through public tender soon after the summit.
He said the cars were standard for such a summit, preparation for which also required major infrastructure projects to be implemented.
"We have tried our best to minimise the costs, use donor agencies to build our infrastructure. I think that's a smart way of hosting an international event that is going to expose our country and build confidence for our business and investment in our country."