Prime Minister Hon. James Marape says Papua New Guinea can learn from countries like South Korea, in terms of quality Government service delivery and significantly improving living standards of citizens.
Prime Minister Marape, upon emphasising the importance of quality delivery of leadership and service for the country to enable an efficient public service and a robust economy for the future, made a specific comparative analysis with the country of South Korea on Thursday, March 21, 2024, during a meeting with heads of government departments and agencies in Port Moresby. Also present were several ministers.
He highlighted that South Korea was amongst the poorest nations of the world in 1953, with 67 dollars per capita, but today it is the 11th largest economy globally.
Prime Minister Marape said in 1973 when PNG gained self-government, South Korea had 407 dollars per capita, compared to Papua New Guinea having 486 dollars per capita at the time, in which PNG was ranked slightly higher than South Korea in per capita terms. As the 11th biggest economy in the world today, South Korea now has 33,147 dollars per capita, while PNG has just surpassed 3,500 dollars per capita.
“If South Korea can transform economically through significant change in government service delivery mechanisms and policy frameworks within a short period of time from being one of the poorest nations in the world to becoming the 11th biggest economy now, Papua New Guinea can do the same or better, given our vast natural resources and massive land area. PNG is four times the size of South Korea,” he told the departmental and agency heads.
Prime Minister Marape strongly urged ministers and public servants throughout the country to effectively deliver on their job expectations, aiming to meet global standards. He reminded the ministers, departmental heads and agency leaders on their duty expectations which were issued in January this year.
“The first quarter of the year is winding up; it is time to reflect upon what is being achieved and identify the critical needs for progress and development going forward in the public sector,” he said.
“We, as leaders in government, must deliver to maximum expectation and output, as determined by our key result areas and job specifications . I encourage all public servants, especially those of you here in leadership positions of government, to be committed to your work for through you, we will see the difference for our country to thrive,” said Prime Minister Marape.
Deputy Prime Minister Hon. John Rosso also expressed concern regarding public sector performance towards enabling efficient delivery of services to the people, especially the majority of the population who are in the rural areas of the country. “We as leaders in the public service have a duty to serve our people. And we must carry out this duty with due diligence and excellence,” he said.
Chief Secretary to Government Ivan Pomaleu, in a response statement on behalf of the public service, acknowledged the challenge and call by Prime Minister Marape for public servants throughout the country to execute productive service in their lines of duty. The Chief Secretary also highlighted key deliverable projects this year for the Public Service including the National Census.
