sounds

Persuasive sounds from PNG

Pronouncements from senior government levels in Papua New Guinea in recent months have stressed a determination to achieve greater participation by nationals in the economic life of the nation.

In late March, Minister for Decentralisation Father John Momis announced his depart ment would establish a cor porate and legal services unit to help nationals set up com panies and run businesses.

In late April Prime Minister Somare called on Australian banks operating in PNG to de

velop lending policies more

suited to a developing country meaning that they should de velop a social conscience in their handling of requests for investment loans.

He later expanded on his

thoughts about the possibility

of the establishment of mer

chant banking facilities in

PNG. These would not com

pete directly with existing

banking operations, he said,

but would have the role of

helping to develop large scale

business enterprises involving

nationals.

And, from the Opposition benches in mid-May came a

blast for the ‘big three’ trading

groups in Papua New Guinea

- Burns Philp, Steamships and

Carpenters. Joseph Aoae, a

former senior public servant

and now a Papua Besena MP, claimed that the parliamentary committee charged with the

task of investigating expatriate

owned business was only look ing at the ‘small fish’ while the ‘big fish’ were getting no atten tion. He called on the com mittee to look into operations of the ‘big three’ and for the government to force their pace of localisation.

father John Momis ... helping

[?]nis countrymen to run their own shows