Nation’s partners praised

PAPUA New Guinea’s development partners have been praised for their on-going support towards development of the country.
Department of National Planning and Monitoring Hakaua Secretary Harry made specific mention of a number of those partners which included the Australian government through its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Asian Development Bank, European Union and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
“I’d like to acknowledge our development partners; they have all contributed so much in the development of this country and we sincerely acknowledge them. We also factor their resources, their assistance into the budget and the areas that they normally focused on.
“All of you will know that earlier this year we launched the development corporation policy that tries to align our partner resources to Government priority areas and ensuring that they focus on areas of their comparative advantage.
“We have the largest partner that contributes to our budget and that is the Australian government (DFAT). The focus of Australian assistance to us is in the areas of health, education, law and justice, the transport sector.
“Our second largest partner is the European Union. The European Union basically focuses on areas of trade, education, rural roads and in the agriculture sector as well.”
Harry also acknowledged the UN, Jica and World Bank for their contributions to PNG’s development.
“These various partners contribute to the key areas of priority for the Government (such as) health and education, and the transport sector in which World Bank and ADB have been two of our biggest partners.”
Harry mentioned certain infrastructure developments that have been made possible through support from development partners.