Technical Committee on Economy  Policy Reform concludes retreat

The Technical Committee on Economic Policy Reform headed by the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (OPMC), held a one-day Retreat for its members, at Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) Retreat Centre, at Aruligho on 5 November 2021.

The purpose of the Retreat is to bring together all its members from the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, to discuss policy issues regarding their work.  Basically, the Term of Reference for the Technical Committee is as follows:

• Identify, liaise and work with relevant ministries, institutions and agencies to institute robust mechanisms on how to improve and strengthen the enabling lending environment.
  • Obtain relevant information and documents.
  • Convene a meeting of relevant ministries, institutions, business community, and other stakeholders.

• Propose Policy changes and recommendations to fulfill the directions set out by the Coordination, Monitoring and Cabinet Committee (CMCC). 

The meeting was officially opened by the Deputy Secretary to Cabinet, Ms Florence Joel, who welcome members for this important meeting to reflect and discussed key issues from the TOR and then need to better strategize its work plan. 

She added that CMCC on 15 September 2021 approved the Committee’s TOR and urged Committee members to reflect deeply on its work going to the future. The Retreat would provide an opportunity for the Committee to discuss and make appropriate recommendations to CMCC for consideration.

The workshop was attended by officials from the CBSI, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MOFT) Ministry of Commerce, Industry Labour and Immigration, and the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (OPMC). 

The meeting heard presentations from the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on the Government’s Redirection policy, focusing on key priority areas, while at the same time, addressing the impact of COVID 19 pandemic and keeping the country safe.

The meeting also noted the Government’s 2022 National Budget supporting key policy areas of priority for the country.

The meeting heard presentation from the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Joseph Dokekana on the Tax Reform, as well as from Ms Primula Mua, on the important role of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the economy. 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, Dr Luke Forau, made a presentation on the statutory functions of CBSI and its support to the Government. 

The meeting also heard a presentation from the Director of Foreign Investment Division, Ms Lynette Dawheya on the proposed One Stop Shop for Foreign Investment in the country. 

The Deputy Secretary to Prime Minister Policy, Dr Derick Mane and the Strategic Policy Adviser ICT in OPMC, Samuelu Taufao, made presentations on Digital Transformation, creating avenues of decentralizing the digital transformation to the provinces in partnership with local companies.

The Technical Committee will be presenting its Report to CMCC.

-GCU