PNG and ADB Work to Enhance Communications on Projects

PNG  Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill   has welcomed the Asian Development Bank’s commitment to Papua New Guinea that he said is delivering tangible benefits for the nation.

Meeting in Port Moresby this week, the Prime Minister and the Director General of the Pacific Department of the ADB, Mr Xianbin Yao, discussed a range of issues relating to the ADB’s ongoing support to Papua New Guinea.

In particular, the Prime Minister welcomed the ADB’s interest in expanding core infrastructure around the nation and investment in primary healthcare.
However, the Prime Minister expressed concern that there are bottlenecks in communications between departments and the ADB that is causing delays in the delivery of projects.
“The people of our nation lose when the bureaucracy does not talk effectively with our development partners,” the Prime Minister said following the meeting with the ADB Director General.
“I will speak further with our department heads and other agencies and see how we can do more as a Government bureaucracy to have clearer lines of communication.

“We are seeing bottlenecks, we are seeing delays and we are seeing people around our country missing out on greater opportunities for development.

“There is no bad intent on the part of the bureaucracy, but we just have to work harder to understand what is needed by our partners, like the ADB, for them to invest.”
This was the second meeting in two months between the Prime Minister and the Director General, after they met on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Phonpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia, in September.
"Papua New Guinea and the Asian Development Bank have a relationship that is going from strength-to-strength and we are committed to ADB for long term development.
“We will further advance plans in areas that include energy production, agriculture capacity building, port infrastructure and healthcare.

“The projects that the ADB is interested in expanding affect grassroots people right around our nation and have immediate positive impact.
“If we can make agriculture more cost effective for our farmers, deliver more electricity and strengthen healthcare delivery, we change lives for the better.
“On some of the larger projects we will explore opportunities to involve more private sector companies through public private partnerships.
“PPPs provide the best access to resources and sectoral knowledge and make project delivery more efficient.”

The Prime Minister said the Government will continue to work with the ADB’s Country Director, Marcelo Minc, to complete existing projects and advance new proposals.