In starting a new era that has been proposed to see inclusive growth, the Papua New Guinea Government is planning to increase its economic incentives, according to its newly-released Medium Term Development Plan IV 2023–2027.
The plan envisions a “strategic shift” in budget allocations based on 12 specific priority areas of the government that is poised to see economic growth over the next four years.
The Plan, which was launched and released on 07 July 2023 by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, suggests that the sternness within priority areas that the government has observed over the last three years may be replaced with more sustainable pathways.
In understanding the country's five-year blueprint, PNG Business News conducted a series of exclusive interviews prior to the launch of MTDP IV and sat down with some of the architects behind the success of the plan. These included the minister responsible for the delivery of the plan, Finance and National Planning chief Hon. Rainbo Paita, and Acting Secretary for Department of National Planning Mr Koney Samuel and his Deputy Mr Michael Kumung.
Minister Rainbo Paita's Overview of MTDP IV
From the outset, Minister Paita drew attention to memorable aspects of PNG's founding fathers and how they laid out a roadmap for the country towards achieving the government's vision 2050, as he opened his response with a simple but important phrase.
When ensuring the success and the approach of the plan, Minister Paita said, "Failing to have a plan is simply planning to fail."
"The country must have a plan, and the vision set by our founding fathers who put together vision 2050 were able to foresee and align a roadmap for the country," he said.
"It is critical that the country has a plan like MTDP IV to achieve its goals in the next 4 years so we can be on the right track towards reaching vision 2050," Paita said.
"The National Government has a plan to transform the economy and achieve a growth of becoming a K200-billion economy by 2030. In this exciting plan, Papua New Guinea will witness improvements in the level of services provided to the people by connecting our country’s main cities with our rural population through Roads, Infrastructure, Electricity, and Technology," Paita said.
"The vision statement of MTDP IV made by Prime Minister James Marape is to be economically independent and to achieve a K200 billion economy, and this plan helps translate that goal through direct interventions envisioned to see triggers that will enable growth."
"In paving a way for the government's plan, we must embark on embracing our national identity and take ownership of this plan," he said.
Paita hopes to see the government working together and striving to create a future where people can live and work outside main cities to strengthen the rural communities and help regional towns to shape their destiny.
In concluding, Minister Paita outlined that the implementation of MTDP IV will be measured through annual budget operations and will cost around K51 billion to be effectively implemented in which the department will conduct monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects in partnership with stakeholders from the private sector to promote the accountable and transparent implementation of the plan.
He added that Provincial Governments, their districts and LLGs (local-level governments) in all regions of the country will now adopt MTDP IV as a blueprint to create a better life for the people and to forge a better and more prosperous PNG by 2030, while targeting the development aspirations of Vision 2050.
MTDP IV Structure
The consultation, drafting, design and development of the plan was carried out by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring.
The Department is the only one mandated by the government to formulate development plans for the country, which includes programming, planning resource mobilisation, and budgeting.
When highlighting this aspect, the Acting Secretary for the Department, Mr Koney Samuel, briefly explained the progress and responsibilities in assuring the successful delivery of the current plan as well as the country's previous development plans.
"Our mandate is to formulate National Development Plans, mostly the medium-Term Development Plans for Papua New Guinea," he said.
"The MTDP I was launched in 2011 followed by MTDP II. However, MTDP II was not fully developed as it was a two-year strategy, thus the government went straight into MTDP III in 2018 which was a bridging plan aligned with the parliamentary cycle," Secretary Samuel said.
"We got 28 years to go and vision 2050 is our destiny. We must be smart, wise, fair, healthy and prosperous by 2050, as our aim is to be in the top 50 countries in terms of human development index and to be a middle-income country by 2030," he added.
"That's a massive challenge, but with the collective efforts of all Papua New Guineans and support of all the stakeholders, we can be able to achieve vision 2050," he said.
Priorities
In PNG's rural communities, agriculture remains the principle economic activity for 85 per cent of the rural population, and the government plans to transform this livelihood with the right level of investment provided through the MTDPs implementation process.
In this context the Deputy Secretary for Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Mr Michael Kumung, who played a significant role in the formulation process of MTDP IV, provided his insight by stressing the basic priorities of the plan.
Mr Kumung stated that the "MTDP IV is built around the priorities of the government and there are about 12 strategic priorities of the government. This priority incorporates all the high-level mantra statements in terms of the different sectors of our country, and how we want to institutionalise the aspirations of development for our country."
"One of the main priorities includes agriculture, which will be a driving force in pushing the agendas of the plan and at the local level, MTDP4 will establish a platform among producers, districts, government agencies and stakeholders, while making strategic investments in rural enterprise, SMEs, livestock, and fisheries productivity," Mr Kumung stated.
He added that the goal is to work together to achieve the government's priorities in connecting PNG, generating national wealth, creating jobs, and developing our economy by empowering the people in reducing unemployment, poverty, and inequality.
"We want to make sure that everyone has an improved quality of life and that will only come onboard if we have a plan that guides us," he said.
Launch of MTDP IV
On Friday the 7th of July, Papua New Guinea's Medium Term Development Plan IV 2023-2027 (MTDP 4) was launched in an extravagant array of national and cultural highlights to a full capacity at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby.
The launch signified the fourth visionary development strategy for the people of Papua New Guinea with the theme "National Prosperity Through Innovation and Structural Transformation.”
From start to finish, the much-anticipated plan was delivered in spectacular fashion, with Minister Paita present to launch and oversee the proceedings alongside Acting Secretary Samuel.
Those in attendance included the country's Prime Minister James Marape, as well as most members of Parliament, heads of department and stakeholders, who assembled to witness the launch of the plan.
Mr Marape highlighted that Papua New Guinea will engage in more economic discussions to grow the local economy while highlighting the 12 key strategic goals stipulated in the Medium-Term Development Plan IV.
Some of the key strategic goals highlighted were economic investment, connect png infrastructure, quality and affordable health care, quality education and skilled human capital, rule of law and justice, national security, national revenue and public finance management.
Furthermore, he said PNG experienced bigger Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth over the last 20 years as exports grew by 162%. However, the real employment for locals in the country grew by only 2%. Marape said the government is now focusing to relate to vision 2050 as the MTDP IV comes at a very interesting juncture of PNG’s life and progress, which is the 50th anniversary of the country.
The PM's keynote address went on stating that every Papua New Guinean deserves the right to make an impact no matter how great or how small, as the success of the MTDP IV is not dependent on the government alone.
"Let's change our future for a more sustainable society, economy, and environment for a brighter future for all. The MTDP IV belongs to all of us, it is our future so let's make it work," he ended.
The ceremony was finally capped off with a two-minute firework display to signify the launch and release of the much-anticipated plan.
Reference:
1) Exclusive interviews with Minister for Finance and Planning Hon. Rainbo Paita/ Koney Samuel Acting Secretary DNPM/ Deputy Secretary Michael Kumung DNPM. 05th July 2023 at the Hilton Hotel Port Moresby [Paul Oeka/PNG Business News]
2) Launch of Medium-Term Development Plan IV APEC Haus Port Moresby, 07th July 2023. [Paul Oeka/PNG Business News]
