“Papua New Guinea remains concerned about our overall slow progress in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a direct result of the unprecedented pandemic, ongoing conflicts, including the climate, crisis and development financing.”
These were the words His Excellency Mr. John Rosso, MP Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Immigration, Lands and Physical Planning made at the United Nations General Assembly 78th Session Sustainable Development Goals Summit Leaders Dialogue 1 in New York yesterday 18th September 2023.
Rosso when addressing the American President Joe Biden highlighted that despite all these concerns his government is committed to working towards achieving the SDGs.
“Our Fourth Medium Term Development Plan 2023 to 2027, with the Theme of “National Prosperity through Growing the Economy”, launched in July this year, reaffirms my government’s commitment to accelerate and deliver on the 2030 Agenda.”
“To highlight this, as an example, on SDGs 6, 7, 9 and 11, our “Connect Papua New Guinea” flagship infrastructure program was developed to transform the country’s socio-economic landscape by improving connectivity.”
Rosso stated that PNG Government has identified the measures needed to do so in a more comprehensive, focused, resourceful, and accountable way, and that they have launched special economic zones to attract investment in downstream processing, housing projects, and path to a fully pledged digital Government.
Papua New Guinea welcomes development partners in this regard and thanks those who continue to lend their valued and constructive assistance and partnership; however, Papua New Guinea calls for development partnership on an equal footing rather than a donor-recipient lens he added.
“Our new strategic development plan requires that development partners align their assistance and work in conformity with our development roadmap”, he said.
“1SDG 6-Clean Water and Sanitation; SDG 7 – Affordable Clean Energy; SDG 9-Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; SDG 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities.”
“Mr. President, we recognize the national need for greater ownership and leadership as well as domestic resource mobilization for national development and to drive forward the SDGs and to assist developing countries, like my own, to achieve their plans, including the SDGs, the following are needed.”
Rosso highlighted 3 main agendas that the PNG Government is focused on:
• Firstly, all must have a renewed commitment in delivering the 2030 Agenda and ensure that the resources, including technology, climate financing, needed to deliver on it are accessible, affordable and in a timely manner.
• Secondly, there needs to be a fundamental shift towards a new reformed global economic and financial framework that captures all countries development aspirations. Such a need for this transformation is urgently required if we are to achieve the SDGs, the current status quo on the international financing architecture falls short of meeting the development needs of developing nations like mine.
• Thirdly, we need fair, just, and equitable returns from our natural resource development as critical to support our own revenue raising measures to progress our national development priorities, including on the SDGs. This value adding on the resources will create more jobs and reduce poverty.
Deputy Prime Minister Rosso further encouraged development partners to assist developing countries like Papua New Guinea with investments in downstream processing of their natural resources and consider debt for nature swaps to help us help ourselves.
“Finally, Mr. President, let me again, reaffirm Papua New Guinea’s commitment to deliver on our national development priorities, including on the SDGs. On a greater scale, our common purpose must prevail.”
“Common pursuits must outweigh individual ambitions, Greater action, less generic political discussions and more collective but meaningful steps in the next remaining seven (7) years are what we all need.”