Martyn Namorong
Chair - Papua New Guinea Chapter
Martyn is a consummate professional, who frequently works and interacts with indigenous communities and institutions across Papua New Guinea. Passionate about translating natural resource wealth into sustainable human development, he maintains a high standing in the local community as an upstanding promoter of local values and heritage. His personal familiarity with government and private sector, make Martyn a bridge builder for the civil society at large.
Professional Experience
Currently attached with the Ministry of Treasury, he oversees strategic communications with the Treasury at national level and assists in ministerial and electoral duties.
As National Coordinator for the PNG Resource Governance Coalition, Martyn designed and facilitated roadshows and subnational capacity building workshops on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Previously Martyn served as Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and provided strategic social media advice to the Office of the Shadow Treasurer during the change of National Government.
External Appointments
Beyond these high impact and visible positions, Martyn is a prolific author in the fields of Sustainable Development and was awarded the Crocodile Prize for Literature. He received accolades from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the fields of Anti-Corruption Reporting and was commended by Divine Word University for his work on Online Journalism in PNG.
Education
From studying for a Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery at the University of PNG, Martyn engaged in extensive training in the field of Big Data & Data Visualization at EITI Secretariat in the Philippines. He was a prominent participant at the Pacific Media Capacity Building Conference for UNDP in both Fiji and Tonga.
Country Report
The eastern half of the island of New Guinea – second largest in the world – was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives. Since 2001, Bougainville has experienced autonomy; a referendum asking the population if they would like independence or greater self rule is tentatively scheduled for October 2019.
Location
As part of Oceania, PNG constitutes a group of islands, including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia.
Land Mass
462,84 km2
Official Languages
English, Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin
Population
7,259,456
Head of State
James Marape
Capital
Port Moresby
Status
Unicameral National Parliament
Economy
Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by rugged terrain, land tenure issues, and the high cost of developing infrastructure. The economy has a small formal sector, focused mainly on the export of those natural resources, and an informal sector, employing the majority of the population. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the people. The global financial crisis had little impact because of continued foreign demand for PNG’s commodities.
Mineral deposits, including copper, gold, and oil, account for nearly two-thirds of export earnings. Natural gas reserves amount to an estimated 155 billion cubic meters. Following construction of a $19 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, PNG LNG, a consortium led by ExxonMobil, began exporting liquefied natural gas to Asian markets in May 2014. The project was delivered on time and only slightly above budget. The success of the project has encouraged other companies to look at similar LNG projects. French “TOTAL” hopes to begin construction on the Papua LNG project by 2020. Due to lower global commodity prices, resource revenues of all types have fallen dramatically. PNG’s government has recently been forced to adjust spending levels downward.
Numerous challenges still face the government, including providing physical security for foreign investors, regaining investor confidence, restoring integrity to state institutions, promoting economic efficiency by privatizing moribund state institutions, and maintaining good relations with Australia, its former colonial ruler. Other socio-cultural challenges could upend the economy, including chronic law and order and land tenure issues. In August, 2017, PNG launched its first-ever national trade policy, PNG Trade Policy 2017-2032. The policy goal is to maximize trade and investment by increasing exports, to reduce imports, and to increase foreign direct investment.