World Report

Sir Michael Somare was Papua New Guinea’s first Prime Minister after independence and is currently holding the office for the third time. In this interview he declares that greater self-reliance is essential for the country to advance

hat are the main priorities on the government’s agenda?
Our main priority is good governance, and we have embarked on the strengthening of the public service system to make it work. We also want to make sure that we can encourage private investment in the country. We have had investments from Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the UK and the European Union.

Our aim is to be less dependent on imports and to place greater emphasis on exports. This will create a more vibrant domestic economy, saving money on unnecessary imports and involving our people in more productive employment and positive social development. We want to establish the conditions to enable the creation of greater national wealth. The foundations of this enabling environment will be improved education and law and justice systems.

Our vision and strategies are pragmatically based on a combination of both economic and social development. We are positioning people and communities to be more effective in helping themselves. That is our objective: an improved way of life and greater self-reliance. We are also very aware that we must invest in this growth in a way that will benefit future generations.

We need to ensure that we have a position in the global economy and that we are not dominated by bigger trading or political partners and neighbours. We are therefore strengthening our regional partnerships so that there is a mutual and fair exchange of products and services. We can no longer afford to be a dependent country, but must strive to obtain the leverage to be interdependent with other economies.

What is the government’s position on the privatisation of Papua New Guinea’s state-owned companies?
We inherited the privatisation concept from the previous government. The wholesale sale of core assets is not the solution and indeed not what our people want. In a country like ours, where more than 85 percent of the population is living in traditional villages, the government has a responsibility to provide essential services such as transport, communication, health and education. Private enterprise cannot possibly serve the many little islands and atolls that we have; only the government agencies can do that.

The government is tackling the problems head on by cutting costs, improving revenues, rationalising and enhancing services and arranging much improved private partnership arrangements that will bring in expertise and capital. We will ensure that these partnerships will not result in a loss of all control and, importantly, not at the cost of the delivery of important services to our people.

What support have you received from the United Kingdom?
We have a long established association with the British people. We are members of the same community, and we look forward to increased bilateral cooperation.

Under our constitution, the Queen of England is also the Queen of Papua New Guinea and we maintain this, unlike other countries, where after three to five years of independence of British rule, they have forgone the monarchy in favour of the republican model.

We have had support through technical assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat and from private enterprises such as the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), which has invested in the oil palm industry. The Commonwealth Secretariat has conducted seminars and fellowships and brought people together, particularly in education by training our people abroad and offering them scholarships.

British investment goes back to the 1960s. We would like to see more, in infrastructure development for example. A British investor, Mabey & Johnson, is behind the Yumi Yet bridge building programme. They have introduced a concept that is now helping us to link up the districts and villages.

The support in investments that we’ve had through the European Union is also quite considerable; this year it has been estimated at 700 million kina (£117 million).

What message would you like to send to investors about the opportunities in PNG?
Have confidence in the people of Papua New Guinea. We can stand side by side and work together. We proved ourselves through independence, although a lot of people thought we would be just another third world country that would collapse. We have managed to sustain ourselves and stand on our own.

What would you most like to be remembered for in your political career?
I would like to be able to say that I set a pace, starting the call for freedom for the people of Papua New Guinea, and that I was instrumental in the early days of the country’s history. I would like to be remembered for the contribution I made to the development of this country and the changes that have brought it to where it is today.