In today’s economic landscape, the growth of an economy in developing countries depends on the growth in foreign trade. Foreign trade plays a pivotal role in the economic development of developing countries by providing access to larger markets, encouraging industrial growth, and facilitating technology transfer. This study focuses on identifying the challenges and opportunities in trends in exports and imports of major commodities and providing recommendations to key stakeholders. The secondary data were collected from the World Bank reports and academic sources. The study covers the period 2019 to 2023 in selected commodities like oil and gas, gold, coffee, and cocoa beans. For data analysis, the researchers used the simple percentage method, linear growth rate, compound growth rate, and instability index to understand the trade performance in Papua New Guinea. The findings revealed substantial variation in metals and petroleum product exports. Notably, only a few countries, including Papua New Guinea (PNG), maintain consistent export relationships with their trade partners. In the case of imported items such as machinery, metals, minerals, and textiles is dominated that there is a need to compensate for the imports of machinery through the indigenous production of inland fish, marine products, and agricultural commodities exports to Asian and European countries.