Institute opens refurbished building

By JOY NEMO
THE PNG National Research Institute (NRI) officially opened its refurbished Thomas Webster Research Building last Friday.
The building is named after Dr Thomas Webster who has served in the institute for most of his working life as former director and has contributed to the development of the institute into a leading policy think tank.
Speaking at the event Webster said the need for research and the demand for informed decision making have gained prominence in the public policy arena in recent times.
Webster said he was very impressed with the modern building design and believed that it would certainly be a conducive working place for all researchers and therefore lead to greater productivity.
The old building that was knocked down had housed researchers and their work for the last 50 years and the new research building will house researches for the next 50 years, he said.
“And this building lays the foundation of the start of the new direction and journey for the PNGNRI towards becoming the PNG knowledge hub.”
Webster added that the dynamics of PNG policy making have changed and the dominance of external multilateral agencies influencing local policy decisions has diminished. This, he said, was probably due to the emergence of local think tanks like NRI and the emergence of strong local decision-making systems and processes within the country.
He also said the research work for NRI was relevant to the issues and challenges being faced by ordinary people.