President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Hon. Ishmael Toroama officially launched the Bougainville Vision 2052 and the Bougainville Integrated Strategic Development Plan 2023 – 2027 in Arawa recently.
“I am very proud of the efforts by our government to create the Bougainville Vision 2052 and the Bougainville Integrated Strategic Development Plan 2023 – 2027 because for us in Bougainville it is essential to have a strategic plan to build our human resource capacity, improve and develop our revenue streams, build infrastructure, and enable a stable economy on Bougainville,” he said.
The Bougainville Vision 2052 is the ABG’s long term vision spanning thirty years. The vision of this long term plan states that “By 2052, Bougainville will be a high income, educated, healthy and peaceful sovereign nation”.
The long-term plan comprises of 8 pillars, with each pillar describing a key aspect of contemporary Bougainville and articulating a desired end situation for each pillar.
The eight pillars are: Bougainville Ways; Integral Human Development; Sustainable Economic Growth; Peace Justice & Security; Infrastructure & Technology; International Relations; and Environment & Natural, Resources and Climate Change.
President Toroama said that executing our independence mission comes with the realization that we must build our socioeconomic and political capacity as these are the very foundations of any sovereign nation to progress and prosper.
The Bougainville Long Term Vision will be implemented through series of six five-year medium term development plans; the first of which was also launched today which is the Bougainville Integrated Strategic Development Plan 2023-2027, and themed ‘Advancing Self-Reliance, Sustainability and Independence-Readiness’.
President Toroama challenged all Bougainvilleans to question themselves as to what kind of society they wanted an independent Bougainville to look like and how they should go about creating the kind of society they wished for as Bougainville prepares for independence.
“This is the question that I had in mind when I stated, under the six-point strategy, a desire for the ABG to get into the practice of long-term visioning and planning so that we can start laying the foundations of a future Bougainville society,” he said.
President Toroama added that the Government has already begun the process of nation building through the numerous economic and development endeavors that his government has initiated. This also includes the work being undertaken by the Bougainville Constitutional Planning Commission to craft a new constitution for the Independent Sovereign State of Bougainville. The constitution will look at the creation of the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive arms of government for Bougainville.
Furthermore, the Bougainville administration is also focused on the effective delivery of social, economic and governance services for Bougainville.
President Toroama says these are all preparatory activities that the government and the administration have undertaken in the last three years and these activities require proper planning and coordination to achieve our short term and long-term goals.
“As President I am of the view that it is time to introduce reforms to ensure there is cohesion between the government and administration of Bougainville. It is time the government’s vision is clearly articulated by the administration and transformed into tangible development. We have no time to waste arguing amongst ourselves and working against the greater vision of this government. I urge you all put aside your differences and work towards our common goal and that is the independence of Bougainville.”
