Chamber outlines roles, plan

Port Moresby is the capital city, the seat of Government and the central location for  commercial activities where most major company headquarters are based. Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer DAVID CONN spoke to Business reporter MARK HAIHUIE on various matters relating to commercial activities in the capital city.

HAIHUIE: Describe the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and its operation.
CONN: The first recorded meeting of the Port Moresby chamber was in 1923. It has represented the interests of the nation’s capital for over 90 years. Its mandate has remained unchanged to represent its member businesses to the Government and local authorities, enhancing all aspects of the environment for doing business in the city, and latterly the National Capital District. It has a fulltime staff of six and a full time chief executive officer. The chamber represents the business community on boards and  entities such as the Investment Promotion Authority, National Health Board, National Education Board , PNGIPA, Nature Park and Migration Committee. It is actively involved in the Department of Finance audit committee programme as chair of DOF and NCDC audit committees. The Chamber has an active media presence through its regular broadcasts, social media presence and hosts the successful “Business plus PNG” programme on TVWAN.
HAIHUIE: There has been much infrastructural development in the past four years by the Government especially in Port Moresby. How has this affected commerce in Port Moresby and how has the chamber been involved in such developments with the Government?
CONN: Infrastructure development has grown exponentially in the last few years and while the Chamber has had little input into many of these projects – previously it was represented not only on the NCD Commission but also the Physical Planning and Building Board – the business community has no voice on any of these vital planning institutions. City Hall could easily rectify this but has shown little interest in having the tax-paying business community involved in the running of the city’s affairs –basically it is taxation without representation. The Pacific Games was a wonderful advert for Port Moresby and with the construction of several world-class facilities, the challenge is to see these maintained and accessible to the ordinary people of the city at reasonable cost. The chamber has long held reservations on the current scenario. And with the maintenance burden a constant challenge, we would rather see these facilities under the municipal authority which has the budget to look after them and make them accessible to our youth and general population for their health and wellbeing under a “trust company” with committed individuals.
HAIHUIE: The Government has prioritised the increased engagement of citizens in SMEs. What is the chamber’s view on SMEs in Port Moresby and the government’s policy on SME?
CONN: The Chamber has always stated it is in full support of development of SMEs and the diversification of the economy of the country. We are actively involved as chair of the Ginigoada Foundation in youth development and small business development in the MSME and informal sector and previously ran business mentoring and director training courses. While over 70 per cent of our over 350 member companies are classified as SME businesses, POMCCI is somehow seen as “big business”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have some concerns about elements of the SME Policy, especially those concerning restricted businesses and requirements of certain businesses to divest their interest at some time in the future. While this policy may be targeted at certain types of Asian businesses which have encroached into the SME sector, the reality is that almost none of these are members of recognised chambers. Despite the wealth of experience held by our member companies, at no time has this chamber been involved in the formulation of policy in this sector.
HAIHUIE: Law and order is a prevalent issue in Port Moresby and influences commerce. What has the chamber done on the issue and what could be done to better insulate business from this issue?
CONN: This is a perennial problem in the city, and will only increase as economic times get tougher, with inevitable spikes as we approach times like Christmas. Having said this, we believe the level of opportunistic crime and burglary has generally fallen in the city. But our businesses report a marked increase in offences involving security issues. We maintain a regular alerting system for all members who subscribe to alert them of any civil unrest or possible disruptions to business. We are trying to talk to authorities about reactivating a truly representative peace and good order committee with police and City Hall. We strongly support the CCTV initiative by NCDC. Many of our Ginigoada programmes are aimed at assisting youth turn away from crime and anti-social activities. More than 12000 young people are going through our programmes each year. Over 2000 are going into vocational skills training and several hundred  into temporar and possibly fulltime employment through the On Job Training scheme.
HAIHUIE: There have been several multimillion kina road projects in Port Moresby recently. What impact will this have on businesses in Port Moresby?
CONN: The new road projects  are world-class and a possible boost to business activity in the city. The challenge now for city authorities and the Lands departments is to ensure these corridors are properly planned and remain open for trafficking day and night and not be subsumed under new squatter settlements. NCDC needs to keep a keen eye on this and deter any encroachment by squatters near the vital road linkages.
HAIHUIE: You support the CBD Harbor Development. What is your view on this and broadly on the planning of the city?
CONN: Yes we did strongly support the NRI recent Fairfax Harbor Development competition. We feel that community involvement and say is the right of all residents of the city in which they live with aspects of green space, public access and livability vital components. Adhoc development of the magnificent Fairfax Harbor would be a great shame and access to views of this harbor should at all times be maintained. Many years ago a SMEC Report suggested Port Moresby as a low rise tropical town with major consideration to be given to pedestrians and public transport. Port Moresby is still wide open for development and we feel public transport needs to be addressed in a much more comprehensive manner, with dedicated bus lanes and possibly light rail connections. If we act now, we will not fall into the trap of many large cities which yearn for the return of their trams. It is now unreasonable to see Port Moresby as a city of two million by 2020. We have the opportunity to act now.
HAIHUIE: There is a claim that infrastructure developments are overly concentrated in Port Moresby at the expense of other centres. What is your view on this?
CONN: This is an understandable sentiment and we agree. This is however the nation’s capital and the gateway to Papua New Guinea. We have praised the Government for committing over K1.9 billion of the national budget to rural areas and have no problem with these priorities continuing. We agree developments should be spread more widely but this needs to go hand in hand with business development. One must not forget  that the majority of money NCD has to spend comes from the economic activity generated here and  taken  in GST.
HAIHUIE: There has been a decrease in foreign currency reserves which has affected businesses. What is your comment on the current state of the economy in relation to commerce?
CONN: Yes times are tough and our businesses are reporting major downturns in activity. The shortage of forex and the declining currency are but two causes of this. The major hits to the resource sector and the fall in nearly all commodity prices have been a perfect storm for PNG. But while many of our members are battening down the hatches, restructuring or in some cases downsizing, we see tough times until at least the end of 2018. Prices will rebound in many areas and restore revenue streams to the national budget. We are concerned but we have been around a long time and are not going anywhere so we will need to weather this storm. While the threat of recession is ever present, a travel around Port Moresby and into many provincial centres generally reveals there is still an awful lot of economic activity going on and business is not sitting still.
HAIHUIE: Apart from infrastructure development, what else can the Government do to create a conducive environment for commerce in Port Moresby?
CONN: One major area is getting reliable power to our people to drive economic activity. Most of our centres have sufficient generating capacity if they were maintained in a proper manner. To solve most problems is well within our reach with demand in most centres low and easily manageable given the conservative growth patterns suggested by PPL. Studies have shown Port Moresby has sufficient capacity when all elements are working and with a possible input to the supply from an additional 50mw from gas and hydro schemes in Central Province to see it through the next 10 years at least.
HAIHUIE: There has been talk on transnational highway to connect Lae and Port Moresby. What are your views on this in terms of the potential it has for commerce in Port Moresby and on a national scale?
CONN: This has been dreamed of for many years and I believe will eventually become a reality. The two sides are getting closer every year as the Pan Island Highway. Clearly the time is not ripe for such a project and links through the western gulf province are likely to forge a link sooner than a Lae-Port Moresby link. Cost will be prohibitive at this time and I have seen CBA done over 10 years ago that said such a link would cost over K5billion. This link has to happen for the future development of the country as do the other missing links, such as to the West Gulf area and Milne Bay. But the time has to be right for these to happen. It would be wonderful to be able to drive to Alotau and move goods along such a corridor but this has to be balanced against an influx of undesirables when they are trying to develop a tourism industry. Connecting Port Moresby to the rest of Papua New G, and opening up corridors for power reticulation over a national grid and communication fiber would be a tremendous boost to our businesses who would stand ready to grasp the opportunities such development would open up.