Comments

Thanks Win for the article, which I think is well put. I note the contributions from Des, Terry and Koima, and that all disagree with the basic point of your argument- that an SME policy for PNG is a very good idea, but that the strong protectionist bias of the current policy is bad. I think the key issue here is governance. In the hands of a state with underlying functional governance and developmental will (e.g. postwar Japan, Taiwan, and the other East Asian tigers), putting industrial policy / aka protectionism in the hands of state bureaucrats and the political apparatus largely worked, because the state largesse and favours that were distributed were done so on the basis of shared public notions of the universalist public good. History shows that when the same discretion is applied in a weak state with dysfunctional governance and a weak sense of the notion of the public good, and weak notions of noblesse oblige amongst its elite, the favours of protectionism are bestowed on members of elite crony networks. The end result in the latter is economic stagnation and the private enrichment and strengthening of the elite based on state privilege, and further marginalisation of the politically weak (AKA "the poor"). Most of early post-colonial Africa and some Latin American countries typify examples of the latter. In such circumstances, universally bestowed and accessible market enablers such as "essential infrastructural services like better roads and bridges, electricity and telecommunication", are far more likely to trigger changes in the political economy that will result in the rise of a genuine indigenous bourgeois, than poorly targeted protectionism.

Thanks Jenny. Just as an interesting aside, I visited an Indonesian village south-east of Merauke a few years ago and was surprised to find a whole bunch of English-speaking villagers there. They were West Papuans who had recently returned to West Papua after fleeing to PNG over a decade before. Economically, they didn't seem better or worse off than any of the non-English speakers in that village. I guess some West Papuan refugees feel comfortable enough to return to West Papua. Others, for political or other reasons, don't.

Siem and Thomas -- Many thanks for responding to the post. I've had a direct message from somebody at D-Portal along similar lines. I think we all agree that not enough resources are currently being allocated to the development of tools for manipulating and presenting IATI data, including data drawn from multiple donors for the purposes of comparison. I think we also agree that such resources should come from the official sector, since such tools are public goods. I hope it is clear that my aim in this post was to reinforce exactly these points, even where discussing the limitations of existing tools. There seems to be a real gap here, and it's my view that the OECD's Development Assistance Committee should be looking to fill it. Siem -- A quick further response on your two specific points. First, it is certainly clear now that D-Portal and the IATI Studio should not be directly compared; my point, as noted, was that from a distance, based on the information available last year, one might have assumed that the IATI Studio suite would include something like a 'souped up' D-Portal. And second, I now see that one has to choose both 'Use native currency' and 'Convert all values to AUD' for the chart builder to do what I wanted it to do, but I would still assert that this is confusing given that the former choice would seem to entail the latter! A very minor quibble, of course.

Poorly written article.The author fails to compare apples with apples here. He didn't state that the SME was protectionist only toward small and medium enterprises. These are the grassroots businesses that provide much of the income for the bulk of our population, and very much need to be protected in the face of increasing competition from foreigners putting them out of business. In the absence of a State social welfare system, a protectionist small business policy is an urgent need to our people. This article implies that the policy intends to shut the door to all foreign investment which is untrue. We welcome large foreign investors for the for the spinoff business opportunities they create for local SMEs.

Win, on one hand you criticise selective protectionism but on the other hand you acknowledge the economic rise of Malaysia, Taiwan, and Japan. Wasn't their rise partly because of selective protectionism while certain industries were in their infancy (then opening them to competition after they became stronger)? Shouldn't this be more a debate about WHICH sectors still need foreign investment and foreign skills (meaning profits shipped off-shore) and WHICH sectors require protection?

I agree with you and I think it's time the government make it mandatory for any foreign business intent on doing business in PNG to have a 50 percent partnership with local businesses so that local businesses can benefit from their comparative advantages such as skills, technology, finance and networks to prosper and at the the same time be open to potentially enter other foreign markets themselves through these partnerships.

Excellent ideas, Ash. Also, I can't help but feel that a PokemonGo-inspired effort is in order ('SDGs: gotta meet 'em all!') 🙂

Such programs are termed as sustainable academic development in which impact information are disseminated through learning and its benefits are indeed unspeakable!

It is easy to criticise efforts that are in an early stage, like the IATI Studio or D-Portal, but as Siem correctly points out there is very limited funding available for this type of work. Building a comprehensive data solution that allows us to compare IATI data from different countries and organisations effectively is actually a fairly substantial task. An even bigger task is actually to get all the organisations and governments to actually report meaningful IATI data. Something which you correctly point out is slow in forthcoming. The organisations which are working on these type of data systems, including the one I am working with, Akvo Foundation, have been talking to quite a few funders and UN organisations about this. But there is little coordinated effort to create a source of funding where systems like this could be supported. Siem and his team is doing really good work with limited resources. I know this, having worked quite a lot with them early on. What the governments and organisations who have committed to publishing IATI data should do, is get together and provide funding for efforts like IATI Studio, d-portal and others, so we can get from working with data as a nice concept to actually drawing the benefits from the data. Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson Co-director, Akvo Foundation

Thanks. Do you think the Kina will appreciate against the US Dollars and Japanese Yen this year?

Kate and Pippa, thanks for this illuminating analysis - this is a really important discussion and much overdue. Your innovation point is particularly well made. it reminds me of the policy emphasis given to women's economic empowerment and the lack of funds aid agencies actually commit to it (among so many competing priorities). You note that "Science and development agencies must collaborate to achieve a strategic alignment between what the science community does and what the global health community needs. To this end, the science community could also helpfully communicate more in the language of public health and less in the language of antibodies and targets." Your thoughts please: in working out the effectiveness of public health programmes to what extent should development practitioners consider the OECD DAC evaluation criteria - the WHO has an evaluation guideline which suggests this is appropriate. Do you as health analysts interact with these criteria, and if not, how do you assess the effectiveness of programmes? Would a common evaluation agenda help bring the science and health communities together?

Health and Education spending in PNG could be likened to a reverse feeding chain. Instead of the minnows and sardines first getting the plankton and then becoming food for the pelagic fish like tuna that are then eaten by sharks, the sharks are gobbling up all the food with any crumbs left for the larger fish with nothing for the sardines and minnows that actually support the food chain. In that scenario, clearly something will inevitable collapse. People who live in a 'western style country' don't seem to be able to comprehend that the same values and structures aren't available or have been allowed to atrophy due to lack or attention or by design in a 'developing country'. A few years ago in Milne Bay, it was reported in the PNG media there was a large gathering of press, health care workers and people who witnessed a local member handing over a large cheque to assist the local Hospital. After the media had taken photos of the presentation and departed the member told the surprised hospital staff how they were now to re-credit the cheque to his personal bank account. Anecdotes I receive indicate that all levels, corruption bleeds any available government funding to the point that very little reportedly reaches those who are actually in need of it. Apparently, the view of an increasing number of those in responsible positions is that if the opportunity exists, take it. If the PNG government sets the precedence, why resist some may say?