State Owned Enterprises

“2020 will be a year of transformational change for Papua New Guinea,” said Minister Sasindran Muthuvel.

“In the next 12 months, we will need to take decisions that will fundamentally impact our nation’s development in the decade that follows. This includes determining our approach to major resource projects; maximising the value of our trade and economic partnerships; and charting a path for the reform of our public services.

Governor Bird said this makes PNG a country with the third most expensive telecommunication rates in the world, and sought an explanation from the minister responsible for State Owned Enterprise.

The East Sepik Governor asked the Minister for State Owned Enterprises what the business rationale was between the merging of Telikom PNG and bmobile, labeling the sudden increase in telco rates as legalised thieving.

“Is it legal to raise additional revenue for the government so that it would fund some of the loans that it is taking out?

This is in line with the requirements of the approved Dividend Policy, which forms an integral part of Government revenue and contributes significantly to the budget.

The expectation is outlined in the 2017 National Budgets Economic & Development Policies, and states key reforms, one of which is the Dividend Policy, will improve the State’s commercial interests.

The Dividend Policy is one of several policy reforms that promote Government objectives that support the attainment of better returns from SOEs, statutory bodies and equity investments.

Duma was responding to questions raised by Gulf Governor Havila Kavo on policy guidelines to protect resources.

Kavo highlighted that many of our natural resources can be processed, extracted and developed into finished products in the country.

He asked if the Government has a defined industrialisation policy in place to process many of our natural resources like hydrocarbons, minerals, timbers, marine and all the energy resources. 

In response, Duma confirmed that there are many policies that are developed and promoted by various government departments.

RNZ reports SOE portfolios in eight Pacific countries examined contribute only 1.8% to 12% of gross domestic product, despite having very large asset bases, ongoing government cash transfers, and monopoly market positions.

The ADB said productivity levels of the SOEs were also well below that found in developed countries.

But the Bank noted some successes in pursuing commercially-oriented reforms.

It said that over the past 14 years Solomon Islands has improved significantly, with Tonga also doing better.

Micah spoke this morning on day one of the PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Port Moresby.

In his presentation on Managing Government Businesses for Public Benefits, Micah said he would ensure change to improve the SOE’s for them to become the drivers of economic development and wealth creation for the country.

He said the regulatory and political environment had contributed to some of the dilemmas of the SOE’s.

“Today we are working on reforming these SOE’s structurally, including changing their operating environment.

The song’s music video came alive in front of a live audience of more than 100 people including the general public and those involved in filming the video.

The song was written and produced by Jagar and Jamie-Lee Renagi Va'a for the people of PNG.

It features young local talents Sentanya and Henry Gewang, Brianne Micah and Tinzy Mau.

The video production took seven days to film by Torn Parachute Production and managed by Kamuna Consultancy.