The two- day PNG Regulators Summit commenced today with much to discuss and cover on improving digital connectivity and interoperability between government agencies and regulators, to improve the ease of doing business and overall service delivery in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) in partnership with the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) is hosting this 2nd PNG Business Regulators Summit in Port Moresby city with the theme, “Interoperability; Connect and Co-Create.”
The IPA Managing Director, Mr. Clarence Hoot, in his opening speech said the Summit aims to identify synergies amongst the government and the statutory regulatory agencies to take stock of reforms and progress being undertaken to achieve the National Government’s e-commerce agenda and digital transformation.
The IPA hosted the inaugural Regulators Summit back in 2019 under the Theme: ‘Efficient Regulations; Productive Economy’. The Summit was planned and executed on the back of post-APEC PNG 2018 domestication process focusing on improving ease of doing business climate through digitization and regulatory automation.
He said from that first Summit, an outcome report on the key discussions and recommendations was produced in house and an NEC Paper was submitted through the Minister for Commerce and Industry.
“The key recommendations include stream- lining all regulatory agencies to adopt system automation (interoperability) to achieve government’s vision for digital transformation,” said Mr. Hoot.
As such, the IPA Board directed for the second Regulators’ Summit to take stock of how far they have come in terms of leveraging digital technology to streamline business regulations. The DICT will be the major stakeholder to partner with the IPA and co-host to drive government’s policy agenda.
Mr. Hoot stressed that this 2nd Summit is important and requires the contributions of all participants from both regulators and state agencies.
“We are hoping to gather to exchange views and thoughts. We encourage everyone to fully participate in this summit.”
Meantime, the Minister for ICT Timothy Masiu in officially opening the Summit, stressed the importance of technology and the role it plays in doing business and of course service delivery, stating that the idea of the Regulatory Summit is to discuss regulatory issues that impact doing business in the country.
The two day event will feature discussion panels involving a vast array of speakers from the regulators, experts and government officials.
The sponsors of the 2nd Business Regulators Summit are PNG Ports Corporation, ICSA PNG, PNGAus Partnership and IPA.