State-owned enterprises belong to the 10 million people of Papua New Guinea and must be governed transparently and accountably, Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) Managing Director Professor David Kavanamur says.
Speaking during the National Development Bank’s dividend presentation in Port Moresby last Friday, Professor Kavanamur said good governance, audited financial statements and regular annual general meetings (AGMs) were essential to protect the interests of the State as the shareholder on behalf of all Papua New Guineans.
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He said KCH had made significant progress in improving governance since 2019.
“Since 2019, we have successfully brought all audited accounts up to date because there were no audited accounts going back to 2014,” Professor Kavanamur said in a statement.
He said annual reports, audited financial statements, board oversight and AGMs across state-owned enterprises were now back on track.
“We are on the right track in improving governance and performance around annual reports and audited financial statements,” he said.
Professor Kavanamur said Papua New Guineans, through the State, should have greater representation and visibility during AGMs because they were the ultimate beneficiaries of state-owned enterprises.
“In the future, I would like to recommend that we invite state beneficiaries to attend AGMs and help scrutinize the balance sheets and open the process up to the public,” he said.
He said greater transparency would strengthen public confidence and ensure state assets continued to deliver benefits to all citizens.
Professor Kavanamur acknowledged the support of State-Owned Enterprises Minister William Duma, as well as the National Development Bank board and management, for their contribution to improving governance and performance within the state-owned enterprise sector.