Hopes to help add hundreds of millions of dollars to the value of trade with PNG over the next few years have been reflected by the Australian state of Queensland's new special trade representative to Papua New Guinea, Jeremy Blockey.

The post will be taken up by Blockey this morning. It was stated by Treasurer Andrew Fraser when the appointment was announced in the Queensland parliament last week, that trade representative's job is for boosting trade between far north Queensland and PNG.

Blockey's is the principal of the Cairns-based, Blockey Consulting as well as the president of the Cairns Chamber of Commerce and director of Advance Cairns and he feels that Queensland-PNG relations will have a bright future.

At a forum in Cairns in far north Queensland today, research into issues affecting Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific Island Nations will be presented.

To discuss the challenges facing Australia's neighbours, academics and policy makers will be brought together by James Cook University's (JCU) Papua New Guinea and Pacific Research Forum.

Issues that will be discussed will be HIV and others.