The Papua New Guinea National Identity (NID) card system is vital for development planning purposes.
Secretary for National Planning Hakaua Harry says the public must understand that the system in place is a very important database that they’re trying to establish.
Harry said the NID card is not just an identification card, however this system provides basic population counts for the purposes of policy, planning and monitoring.
The NID card system also provides privacy and identity protection of individual citizens in the country.
“The system tells us exactly what kind of population we have and it will contribute to decision making on how we can plan forward.
“It tells us exactly how many people are in various locations for development purposes.
“This system has interesting components that can be able to give us very good information to plan and to integrate into policies,” Harry said.
She said the system is also important to move the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forward.
Harry encouraged the public to register as soon as possible to receive an NID card.