BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
PRIME Minister Jeremiah Manele announced that the Government for National Unity and Transformation’s (GNUT) 100-day policy aims to boost the struggling Solomon Islands struggling economy.
Manele revealed that his government’s 100-day policy will focus on the economy, national unity, human capital development, and good governance.
“The detail work is ongoing now in terms of the details of these pillars, but the focus of the 100-day policy will be to review and take immediate action to recover the economy,” PM Manele said during his first official press conference held on Friday, May 10. “That is a priority, and improving revenue collection, for example, in this country, would be done through consultations and capacitating the necessary and relevant stakeholders to ensure that government revenues are collected, and measures are to be put in place to minimize our leakages.”
The Prime Minister has confirmed that they should receive a copy of the 100-day policy by the end of this week.
He told local journalists that he understood the question based mainly on how Solomon Islands can maximize benefits from the productive sector, including forestry and minerals.
“There are a couple of legislation that are on the front that are ready to go to parliament, one on the forestry sector and one in terms of the mineral sector. And those laws are taken into account,” Manele said.
He stressed that he has appointed all his cabinet ministers to their respective ministries and has already briefed them that the work on the 100-day policy statement, translation and implementation strategy has commenced and will be completed soon.
“As a country, we continue on a recovery path after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 riots. The global economy, as you know, is also suffering from the effects of the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. And as I have alluded to, earlier reports have shown that the recovery of the global economy is steady but slow.
“On the domestic front, the recent report by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) on the state of our economy is concerning. The Government for National Unity and Transformation is cognizant of this and will take a more focused and aggressive approach to addressing our economy. It is not an easy task, and we will be reaching out to all relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, as we move forward,’’ the PM said with confidence.
