Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has reiterated the government’s commitment to work closely with the private sector.
Speaking during the launch of the 11th Australia and Solomon Islands Business Forum at the Heritage Park Hotel on Wednesday morning the Prime Minister stated;
“DCGA acknowledges and appreciates the critical role that the private sector plays in nation building. We recognise the importance of the private sector as the main driver of our economy.
“As a testament to this recognition, the launching of the DCGA 100 days Policy Priority Document was done during the Prime Minister’s Breakfast in partnership with SICCI in May 2019,” he said.
In what he termed as “straight talk” in speaking out about the realities faced in relation to investments in the country, the Prime Minister stated that the government accepts that it is expensive a real hassle to do business in the country and this has often been blamed on corrupt public officials, complacency or just lack of coordination between government ministries.
The Prime Minister further reflected on his statement during the launch of the government’s 100 Days Policy Priorities recently when he stated Political instability and bureaucratic inertia as having been always an obstacle to the government’s ability to implement and achieve the objectives of its priority policies and further reiterating,
“This must change if we are to sail on tomorrow’s winds of change. After all, those that are directly affected are our people. We must no longer disguise these two factors and have them swept under the carpet for convenience sake.
“For too long these factors have undermined many well-intended government programs, and compromised good strong leadership in past governments. The result often is disastrous with incoming governments having to reconfigure fragmentations and non‐achievement of government policies and priorities of the previous government,” he said.
Prime Minister Sogavare believes that what affects the government will definitely affect the private sector.
“It is no secret that the cost and ease of doing business here in Solomon Islands is not really that attractive. This is something that this Government will and must work on.
“If we are to attract investors we must also step up and ensure that the environment for doing business is conducive to investors. That responsibility lies with the Government, and no one else,” he said.
The Prime Minister further reiterated that as such, the DCGA has re-established the Core Ministerial Coordination Committee (CMCC) which was an initiative first established under the leadership of SIDCCG Government under Rick Hou.
The CMCC is based in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (OPMC) and his co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Minister for National Planning and Aid Coordination with other senior ministers as members of that Committee.
“One of the objectives of CMCC is to ensure that the government bureaucratic machinery is not an obstacle to doing business here by the private sector,” said the Prime Minister.
The Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PIMEU) within the OPMC provides the secretariat support to the CMCC It also works closely with other line ministries to oversee the implementation of government policies.
“I strongly encourage SICCI to work closely with SICCI in this regard, I do understand that this has already been happening but there are always areas where we can work more on,” he reiterated.
The 11th Australia Solomon Islands Business Forum, according to the Prime Minister is an opportunity where the Government, together with the private Sector can come together and share ideas on how to better collaborate in moving the country forward.
– PM Press Secretariat
