Take serious heed of business coalition

WITH the advent of social media and armed with a mobile phone or tablet, every person has an opinion on everything under the sun these days.
Nothing is wrong with that.
It is a free country, as they say, and the National Constitution at Section 46 guarantees freedom of expression.
We refer in particular to commentaries on the national economy which come in every now and then, particularly the Government’s handling of it.
Some of that commentary might be from a parochial standpoint and not to be taken seriously.
Others may be well or half-informed while many more should not warrant deliberation.
However, when a businessman or a leader of a business coalition speaks out on what ails the economy and recommends corrective measures, it pays to listen and take serious heed.
To say that the present state of the national economy is healthy would be an affront because it is not.
Papua New Guinea is battling a storm buffeting the boat from all directions. We are being hit hard with factors from within such as crime, inefficient public utilities, fragile infrastructure and a general breakdown of order. Businesses and Government have to maneuver against rising import prices driven by crises like faraway conflicts affecting global trade.
When credible business leaders, such as the founder of Papua New Guinea’s premier retail chain, City Pharmacy Limited’s Sir Mahesh Patel, and chairman of Lae Biscuit Company Ian Chow, speak out about the pains they are experiencing, the political leadership needs to listen.
In a news article, Chow raised something that could shed an interesting light on the average workers’ ability to survive in these trying times.
He thinks the average wage earner might not have as little as K100 sitting in his or her account until the next pay day.
Besides a general lack of a savings mentality, simple arithmetic tells us that the worker is spending all she/he earns on survival and sets very little or nothing aside as savings for the rainy day.
When the rainy day does come and it will, that worker will be pushed into even greater difficulty.
Something Public Service Minister Sungi said recently comes immediately to mind.
He said the majority of civil servants are living in a vicious cycle of debt.
Other business leaders like Ian Tarutia of the PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PNGCCI), and Anthony Smare of the Chamber of Resources and Energy (PNG Core) have voiced concerns in recent times over the national economy in general and on specific matters such as the proposed National Gold Bullion Bill.
PNG Core is particularly concerned about the bill’s potential to bypass a national mint and allow for gold refining and processing outside of Papua New Guinea, while simultaneously prohibiting any competing refineries within the country.
Critics have also arisen from other sectors within or outside the business community on the matter and it is deeply concerning that ministers of State seem not to heed any advice on these issues.
In many ways we agree it is matter of serious national sovereignty as some have pointed out.
Gold is a strategic asset and its extraction, processing and marketing ought to be properly controlled.
The Government has yet to answer the business sector and PNG Core on this issue.
Business leaders are kept abreast daily with the workings of the economy. They know better than most about what goes on in the business world here and abroad.
They are hit first with the bad news and do all within their power to minimise the impacts of a price hike and then pass the corresponding cost onto the consumer.
The State has to listen to the business community to ensure the economy remains vibrant and strong.
It is the business community that employ citizens. It is the business community that pays taxes. And, it is the business community that feels the pulse of the economy.
If it declares through its leadership that something is wrong, then something most definitely must be wrong.