It is an occasion that you and I can feel proud that we belong to the economic profession, and now have a common venue to express our views and contribute meaningfully to debate and discussion on public policy in PNG.
Before the accountants can account for how money is spent, before the engineers can design bridges and roads and construct them, and before the lawyers can write our laws and regulations, and take up legal cases, economists must decide on the allocation of scarce resources – the economic policies that govern and dictate: the delivery of public goods and services; and private investment and business decisions.