Development assistance in Papua New Guinea
Enabling economic growth in Papua New Guinea
Enabling economic growth in Papua New Guinea
Overview
Australia's aid is investing in Papua New Guinea to build a stronger, more diversified economy and a healthy and productive workforce. Investments are geared towards growth enablers, including health, education and governance (see the other sections on enhancing human development and promoting effective governance for more information).
We are working with the private sector, the engine of economic growth, to leverage finance and expertise, address common development challenges, expand markets and to support greater diversification and inclusiveness in the economy. We are also working with the multilateral development banks to improve the business-enabling environment, to leverage additional finance and the provision of technical assistance.
Australia will also provide targeted assistance to help PNG comply with trade and investment obligations. We are supporting PNG's policy and security preparations to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 2018.
We are also supporting the future digital economy in Papua New Guinea through the delivery of a new high-speed telecommunications undersea cable from Australia to Port Moresby. This will increase the speed and reliability of internet connections, providing opportunity for growth and development.
Related initiatives
Economic and Social Infrastructure Program
Up to $130 million, 2019-2022
The Economic and Social Infrastructure Program (ESIP) is Australia's new flagship infrastructure program. ESIP's goal is assisting PNG to accelerate the development of priority infrastructure by strengthening project planning and selection, expanding access to quality financing and assisting with high quality procurement and project implementation. ESIP will apply an integrated approach to address crosscutting issues such as climate change, gender and disability. ESIP expects to leverage Australian infrastructure finance by attracting funds from the private sector, other donors and multilateral finance institutions for work in fields such as energy, telecommunications, and water and sanitation.
Transport Sector Support Program
Phase 2: Up to $400 million, 2014-2019
The PNG-Australia Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP) has been the primary Australian Government investment in transport infrastructure in PNG since 2007. The long term development goal of TSSP is a safe, reliable transport system that enables economic and social development in PNG. The majority of TSSP funding is spent on roads through Papua New Guinea's Department of Works, directly assisting it to maintain sections of the core network of 16 National Priority Roads.
TSSP funding is also provided to assist PNG's aviation and maritime sectors consistently move towards compliance with international safety and security standards. Australian Government transport sector agencies play an important role in providing integrated Australian assistance to PNG under the TSSP framework. The Australia-PNG Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Transport Sector outlines the key priorities of this engagement.
Related documents*
| Name of document | Year published | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Australia-PNG Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Transport Sector | 2010 | Memorandum of understanding |
| Design and Implementation Framework | 2013 | Design |
| Road Management in PNG: An evaluation of a decade of Australian Support 2007-2017 | 2018 | Evaluation |
| ODE brief - Road Management in PNG: An evaluation of a decade of Australian Support 2007-2017 | 2018 | Factsheet |
| Papua New Guinea Oro Bridges Reconstruction Project: Evaluation study | 2018 | Evaluation |
Related links
- PNG-Australia Transport Sector Support Program
- World Bank - Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Project in PNG
PNG-Australia Incentive Fund
Up to $100 million, 2015-2019 (Phase 4)
The Incentive Fund supports high performing organisations to expand their operations in order to improve service delivery capacity and promote economic growth. Church organisations, education and health institutions, and research bodies have been beneficiaries and remain important partners for Incentive Fund projects under Phase 4 of the program. In this phase of the program, proposals will also be accepted from the private sector. This recognises the significant development role that many companies already play in PNG in areas such as health and education, and together will allow the Incentive Fund to leverage partnerships with the private sector to achieve improved development outcomes.
Related documents*
| Name of document | Year published | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Incentive Fund Independent Progress Report | 2012 | Review |
| Incentive Fund IV Design | 2014 | Design |
Related links
Private Sector
Up to $68 million, 2014-2019
A Private Sector Development Framework identifies a range of investments to help reduce the costs of doing business, reduce risk and improve productivity under four pillars: improvements in the business enabling environment; agriculture (rural development, markets, and trade); innovation and business partnerships; and financial inclusion. The activities under each of these pillars are outlined in the Private Sector Development Fact Sheets. Cutting across all four pillars is a strong focus on women's economic empowerment and financial inclusion opportunities, particularly in rural areas.
Related documents*
| Name of document | Year published | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Business Enabling Environment [PDF] | 2015 | Fact sheet |
| Agriculture: Rural Development, Markets and Trade [PDF] | 2015 | Fact sheet |
| Innovation and Partnerships [PDF] | 2015 | Fact sheet |
| Financial Inclusion [PDF] | 2015 | Fact sheet |
Related links
* The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is committed to high standards of transparency and accountability in the management of the Australian aid program through publishing information on our website, including policies, plans, results, evaluations and research. Our practice is to publish documents after the partner government and any other partners directly involved in the delivery of the initiative have been consulted. Not all material published on this site is created by the Australian aid program and therefore not all documents reflect our views. In limited circumstances some information may be withheld for reasons including privacy and commercial sensitivity.