UN envoy supports economic expansion

 By Gedion Timothy 
UNITED Nations resident coordinator Roy Trivedy says he regards broadening and diversifying Papua New Guinea’s economic base as a vital ingredient to national development.
He told The National that he supported the emphasis that the government had placed on the development of the tourism and agriculture sectors.
“I regard the importance of broadening and diversifying the Papua New Guinea’s economic base as a vital ingredient for the country’s development,” he said.
“United Nations Development programme human development report for Papua New Guinea set out the reasons why this is important for the country.
“In terms of how this can be achieved, I agree on the emphasis that the Government has placed on the development of agriculture and tourism in the country.”
He said these sectors were vital at the national level and in most provinces. And if done well, it would benefit many citizens.
“But I think the pace of change on developing these sectors needs to be significantly improved (clear milestones could be established to assess progress),” Trivedy said.
“I think that this emphasis on agriculture and tourism needs to be accompanied by much greater emphasis on human development (education, training, skills development literacy and numeracy are essentials) for all.
“It  can be used to also target particular groups of the population such as women and youth.
“We could have the Education Department and others including high profile individuals really championing this agenda nationally.
“I also think that in addition to the national level work, each province should develop their own economic development plan (which would focus on key sectors that they want to develop over the next 5-10 years based on the availability of particular resources like fisheries, forestry etc that they have.”
Trivedy said the United Nations was already working with some district and provinces to start to develop such plans.
“Such plans would become more help for expansion of the rural economic base.”