PNG's Economic Stability and Government Decentralisation Success Highlighted at Australian Press Club

The Papua New Gunea Prime Minister,  Peter O’Neill  has used his address to the National Press Club of Australia to reassure investors that the national economy is heading in the right direction.

PM O’Neill also took the opportunity to provide perspective on the success of the Government’s decentralization process, particularly as this relates to regional communities.

“Today we are empowering our local communities, by decentralizing how we manage our Government systems in Papua New Guinea,” the Prime Minister told members of the Australian media.

“By doing so we are allowing communities in the rural areas to take ownership of decisions that they make. 

“We are now reinvesting in areas like agriculture, tourism, and small to medium enterprises, that are going to be able to sustain the economy into the future when we experience downturns in commodity prices.

“This is empowering local communities, and it will obviously change the lives of people.”

The Prime Minister said decentralisation was of particular benefit to people in rural areas.

“Bringing government to the level closest to the people, we are enabling our rural majority to have a say in where their country is going.”

In his concluding remarks, the Prime Minister said the national economy will emerge from current global commodity price pressures in a strong position.

“We are very positive about the future of Papua New Guinea,” he said.

“Papua New Guinea is a great country, a very unique country, with more than 825 languages and thousands of ethnic groupings. 

“It is a country of many people within one nation.

“It is a country that is going somewhere.

“I want to stress that despite the global challenges that we have, the future is even brighter.

“We have political stability, we have certainty about the way we want to develop our country going forward, and our economic fundamentals are very stable.

“We have the right fiscal policies that will enable the growth of our economy.

“Our GDP has doubled in the last four years alone, our growth last years was 9.2 percent of GDP, an enviable growth in any terms.

“Our debt levels are management. We have a responsible spending program for our Government, and our policy focus is people-focused.

“I know that we can continue to improve living standards, continue to build the infrastructure that business will need to expand their business and their opportunities in our country.

“We want to make sure that we attract quality foreign investment into our country.”

The address to the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra, on March 3, was the second by Prime Minister O’Neill having last addressed the media group in 2013.