PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — The Maseratis and Bentleys have been delivered. Laborers from China have repaired roads and installed bus stop shelters with signs saying “China Aid.” Three cruise ships will serve as temporary hotels.

The Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea is in the global spotlight as some of the world’s most powerful leaders gather here this week for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting.

Some say hosting the annual Asia-Pacific leaders forum will be Papua New Guinea’s biggest event since it gained independence in 1975. For the country’s scandal-ridden government, it is an opportunity to spend aid money on favored projects in the capital and import luxury vehicles that can be sold later to wealthy cronies.

Government leaders, most of them heads of state, will be arriving this weekend from 20 fellow member economies that ring the Pacific Ocean.