Politics and business must work together: Speaker

Politics and business must work together for the country to progress and reach its intended goals.

Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, said this when opening the Inaugural Speaker’s Investment Summit today in Port Moresby.

The event was held in the Parliament hallway.

Following the 2017 Members Induction Program a year ago, MPs expressed interest to continue to engage with the business community, and the Summit is a result of that.

He said the summit brings to them the opportunity to engage with the business community and development partners.

“Together with the Investment Promotion Authority and the Business Council of Papua New Guinea, the idea of the Summit was developed with the objective to promote dialogue between business and political leadership,” Pomat stated.

“The Summit brings an opportunity for all Members of Parliament, not just those in the executive, to engage with development partners.

“It also targets members’ support staff, who in most instances, are the key agents for delivering development programs and aspirations on behalf of MPs in their respective constituencies.”

The Speaker used an analogy to describe the relationship between the Government and the business community, calling for collaboration for success.

“The development of a nation can be likened to a ship at sea. The politics is the rudder, business the engine room, and the other sectors of the economy make up the other parts of the ship. The Judiciary is similar to the ballast, to make sure that the ship is on an even keel, and the Ombudsman Commission ensures that the life boats are in place and working, and so on and so forth.

“However, without the rudder system or the engine room or both, the ship cannot reach its desired destination. Therefore, politics and business must work together in order for the country to progress and reach its intended goal.”

The Summit was attended by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Government ministers, Members of the Opposition, the business community and development partners, among others.

The Summit ends tomorrow.

(Speaker Job Pomat)

Author: 
Cedric Patjole