Activities in Papua New Guinea

1. Introduction & Background

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is known for its abundance of natural resources and diversity. The PNG Government (GoPNG) can utilize the increased revenue provided from the resources sector to improve the wellbeing of its citizens. However, despite these abundant resources, 37.5% of PNG citizens continue to live below the national poverty line. The Extractive Industries Transparency initiative (EITI) aims to increase transparency in the collection and distribution of natural resource revenue.

The Project for improving resource related revenue management started in 2018 with the support of JICA, based upon the request from GoPNG by addressing the recommendations from the first PNGEITI Report which include improving license registry at Department of Petroleum (DOP) and improving government's agencies data collection and reporting for EITI with high priority. The scope of the project was decided to mainly focus on the Public Finance Management (PFM) issues related to EITI reporting as well as the data management issues of DOP with the consideration that DOP was behind Mineral Resources Authority ("MRA") in license data recording, storing, maintaining and reporting.

The project contributed towards enhancing the capacity development of officers at DOP and National Staff (NS) through support activities in the reporting process and awareness promotion. With the help of the project, NS and DPE strengthened awareness of EITI among the stakeholders and the public and improved the EITI reporting practices among the reporting entities.

The project was relevant to the development policy and needs of PNG, as it consistently promoted transparency and sound financial management and accountability in the extractive sector which plays a critical role in the revenue growth to GoPNG and the economic growth of PNG.

2. Basic Information

• JICA Cooperation Scheme (Ex. Technical Cooperation, Loans, Grand Aid…)
  Technical Cooperation
• Target Development Sector: Public Finance sector
• Target SDGs: 8
• Counterpart Organization (Web URL)
  National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Secretariat, Papua New Guinea (https://pngeiti.org.pg/ (external link))
• Duration (Ex. Jan/2019-Dec/2021)
  JAN 2018-DEC 2021
• Amount (Ex. K xxx million) JPY200 million
• Target Provinces, Location: National Capital District

3. Outline of Project

• Project purpose
  Resource related revenue management and reporting in accordance with EITI Standard is promoted.
• Overall goal
  Resource related revenue management in PNG is further improved.
• Outputs
  1. Data management at DPE (*2) is improved to comply with EITI Requirements.
  2. EITI reporting mechanism among extractive companies and government agencies is enhanced.
  3. Awareness and implementation structure for EITI is enhanced in the country.

４. More information

• 2017 Asia Development Index, Basic Statistics 2019, https://www.adb.org/countries/papua-new-guinea/poverty (external link), accessed 7 November 2019

Snap Photos

Japanese Expert with EITI, MRA and JICA staff during a seminar

Joint Coordinator Committee Meeting (JCC) hosted at the Department of Treasury (DoT)