The Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee gave its full support to the third National Sports Conference which took place in Port Moresby ©PNGOC

The Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC) gave its full support to the third National Sports Conference which was held in the capital city Port Moresby.

Recognising the importance of the event for sport in Papua New Guinea, the PNGOC secured funding of $10,000 (£7,700/€8,900) from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the Conference which was presented to the Organising Committee prior to it starting.

Deputy secretary general of the PNGOC, Andrew Lepani, made the presentation in Port Moresby to the chairperson of the Organising Committee, Janet Gimots.

Lepani said that the conference is a "great way" to discuss the many areas of sport and how they contribute to national development.

Members of the PNGOC and its Athletes' Commission carried out several presentations as part of the programme of the Conference.

It was the third time the Conference was held and the theme for this year's event was "Raising and Sustaining Sport Through Partnerships for National and Regional Development".

The PNGOC secured funding from the IOC for the Conference which was presented to the Organising Committee prior to it starting ©PNGOC
The PNGOC secured funding from the IOC for the Conference which was presented to the Organising Committee prior to it starting ©PNGOC

The Conference came almost a month after the PNGOC were presented with funds of PGK500,000 (£120,000/$157,000/€142,000) by Trukai Industries, ahead of last month's Olympic Games in Rio.

The company handed over the funds in Port Moresby, last year's Pacific Games host city, to the country's Rio 2016 Chef de Mission Emma Waiwai. 

Sir John Dawanincura, the President of PNGOC, was also on hand to receive the cheque.

The Trukai Fun Run, which offered t-shirts for sale, helped to raise the funds ahead of the Olympics.

The country sent eight athletes to Brazil but didn't win a medal.