Bank steps in to help PNG avoid ‘Dutch Disease’

THE Asian Development Bank has put in place safety measures in its Pacific Approach 2010 to 2014 to ensure that PNG does not suffer from the “Dutch Disease”.
The bank’s experiences show that countries that have grown through resource development often have nothing to show on the ground in terms of social development and they are hoping that this does not happen in PNG. 
According to the bank, a special set of capacity and institutional needs have been designed in the Pacific Approach for countries like PNG and Timor Leste so that they do not fall into the traps set by resource development and the influx of international aid.
In PNG also, the bank hopes that its bigger presence will allow for greater dialogue between the government, implementing agents and its beneficiaries and ensure that there is better implementation and monitoring of projects and programs on the ground.
According to Dominic Mellor, the bank’s country economist, the Pacific Approach hopes to generate greater consensus, a strategy that was lacking in ADB’s earlier approach in the Pacific.
It is demand driven, coming from the beneficiaries and not a program me that the bank thinks is best for PNG.
ADB provides support to four developmental areas in the country; these include infrastructure, good governance, private sector development and health.