The 2024 Business Regulators Summit co-hosted by the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) and Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) on July 30 to 31 in Port Moresby drew representatives from businesses, regulators, investors, government agencies, non-government organisations, and the media across Papua New Guinea to Port Moresby for the two day summit.
Discussing the result on the outcomes of the inaugural 2019 event, IPA Managing Director Mr Clarence Hoot said: “From the first summit, an outcome report on the discussions and recommendations were produced, and an NEC paper was submitted through the Minister of Commerce and Industry.”
“The key recommendations include all streamlining all regulatory agencies to adopt system automation (interoperability) to achieve government’s vision for digital transformation.”
This year’s summit aimed to identify synergies among the government and the statutory regulatory agencies to take stock of reforms and progress to achieve PNG’s e-commerce agenda and digital transformation.
DICT Minister Timothy Masiu officially launched the summit at Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby on July 30.
“This Summit aligns perfectly with our digital transformation agenda where the objective is to harness digitalization for social and economic growth,” he said.
The theme, “Interoperability; Connect and Co-create,” underscores efforts by his Ministry and DICT’s collective goal to harness synergies among government bodies and statutory regulatory agencies to advance the nation’s e-commerce agenda and digital transformation efforts.
“This is where interoperability comes into play. Interoperability will make conducting economic activities easier for business communities,” Masiu said.
“The journey toward digital transformation supported through interoperability is both exciting and challenging. You, as regulators play a very important role in creating an environment where it will be conducive for business to grow.”
“The easier the business processes are, it will encourage more citizens to engage and operate MSMEs’ and SMEs’ creating more income generation and employment opportunities,” Masiu added.
“This will contribute towards growing PNG economy that will ultimately result in the improvement of the citizens’ livelihoods.”
“Our aim here today is to leverage these insights to inform our strategies and policies, aligning them with international best practices that have successfully driven digital transformation,” the minister added.
The two-day-summit featured a focus on high-level statements from the Government Ministers on the first day, followed by agenda setting and overview of the Regulators Summit topics.
The second day included panel discussions at technical level for regulators and policy makers to identify issues and opportunities, and outline recommendations for regulatory convergence and interoperability.
Discussions focused on:
- A stock-take on progress in adopting e-commerce and digital optimization within government departments, agencies, and industry regulatory bodies to improve service delivery.
- Promoting dialogue and identifying a central depository point for regulatory agencies to create synergies and achieve interoperability in business processes.
- Providing policy recommendations for the government’s consideration and action.
Masiu stressed that the discussions aimed to inform ongoing Government to Citizen (G2C) and Government to Business (G2B) digitalization initiatives through necessary policy and legal frameworks, including the Digital Transformation Policy 2020, the Digital Government Act 2022, and the Digital Government Plan 2023–2027.
He said: “Together, we can provide policy recommendations that align with our national goals and drive meaningful change. Our collective insights will inform the government’s strategic decisions, ensuring that our policies are responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities.”
Key sponsors of the summit included PNG Ports Corporation, Immigration and Citizenship Authority, and the Australia-PNG Economic Partnership Program.
