PFTAC TRIPARTITE & REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETINGS
05 August-06 August 2004
Venue : Tower 11, Reserve Bank
Building
Suva, Fiji Islands
Thursday, 05 August
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9:30a.m.
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Registration and Formalities
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10:00a.m.
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Presentation by Professor Henry Tulkens
“Case Study in
Economic Management and Administration applicable to Pacific Island
Countries (PICs)”
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10:30a.m.
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Tea/Coffee Break
(During tea time, a
demonstration of the case study will be on-going on a few computers installed
in the Conference Room)
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11:30a.m.
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Discussion on the Case Study
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12:30p.m.
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Lunch hosted by
PFTAC
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2.00p.m.
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“Non Bank Financial
Institutions – Supervisory Challenges” – Presentation by Ms Judy Lau,
PFTAC Banking Supervision Advisor
followed by a discussion
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3.30p.m.
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Afternoon Tea
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7.00p.m.
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Dinner
Guest Speaker : Mr. Joe
Mar (topic to be announced)
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Item I. The Meeting Agenda continued
Friday, 06 August
2004
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9:00a.m.
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Photograph Session
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9.05a.m.
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Welcoming remarks by the Chairman of the Steering
Committee
(Mr. Narube, Governor of the
RBF and Chairman)
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9.10a.m.
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Welcoming remarks by the IMF Representative
(Mr
Browne, Assistant Director, Asia
Pacific Department)
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9.15a.m.
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Welcoming remarks by the Project Coordinator and adoption of
draft agenda
(Mr. Leruth, PFTAC Project Coordinator)
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9.30a.m.
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Presentation of the PFTAC
External Review Committee Findings
(Mr. James
Bucknall
– Team Leader)
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10.15a.m.
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Response by Project Coordinator – Mr. Leruth
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10.30a.m.
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Coffee/Tea Break
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10.45a.m.
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Discussion on the External Review Report
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12.30 p.m
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Lunch
(hosted by the Chairman of the Steering Committee and
Governor of the RBF, Mr. Narube)
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2.00p.m.
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Continuation of the discussion on the Report. Implications
for the new project document.
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3.00p.m.
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Presentation of major initiatives and priorities. Introduction
of the new Project Coordinator
(Mr. Leruth, PFTAC Project Coordinator)
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3.30p.m.
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Coffee/Tea Break
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3.45p.m.
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Summing-Up of the Meeting
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4.00p.m.
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Closing Remarks by the Chairman
(Mr. Narube, Governor of the
RBF and Chairman)
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Professor
Henry Tulkens, a resident scholar at
PFTAC and at the University of South
Pacific (USP), and the PFTAC Public Financial Management Advisor, Ms. Anne
Morant, presented a paper explaining course
material developed by PFTAC on "Public Expenditure Management in Small
Developing Economies". The Professor provided an overview of the course
contents to the August 2004 TPRC meeting which was principally
aimed at filling a gap in the nature of training available for new recruits and
mid-level management officials in the Ministry of Finance and/or Planning in
PICs.
The purpose
of the proposed course was to provide an understanding of the key concepts and
principles of public expenditure management - illustrating them in the context
of small developing economies - based on six modules: Public Finances in Market
Economies; Framing the Budget Exercise; Budget preparation; Budget Execution;
Monitoring and Control of Budget Execution; and Evaluation.
The
final material comprises three elements: course notes, dealing with the
concepts and principles; a “case study” based on a fictitious country, designed
to assist in applying the contents of course; and a DVD presentation by the
authors for each module. A copy of the DVD was provided to the TPRC
participants in a draft to take with them for review and to provide any
feedback. A copy of the draft material can be downloaded from the PFTAC web site at www.pftac.org.
The course
material will be utilized initially in a new unit of a Master of Arts in
Governance at the USP, Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies (PIAS) in
Development and Governance, commencing first semester 2005. The USP has
appointed a full-time lecturer for the course. The PFM Advisor will play a
supporting role, helping to refine the course notes and possibly giving
occasional presentations to students.
In addition, it
was proposed that PFTAC will develop a short course version for its own use in
in-country training programs. Such training will usually be combined with the
Advisor's missions to a member country related to budget reform.
The Financial Sector Supervision Advisor presented a paper
on “The challenges in supervising
non-bank financial institutions” to
the Tripartite Review
Committee meeting. The paper emphasized that with a growing significance of
non-banks operating in the Pacific, there was a need to consider widening the
supervisory net beyond the banking sector.
Mr. James Bucknall (leader of the Evaluation
teams) presented a report on the operation of the Center during the triennium
FY 2002 to FY 2005. The Evaluation highlighted the effectiveness of
PFTAC and the positive role it plays in the region. The Evaluation, which had
been foreseen in the previous project document and was undertaken at the behest
of the TPRC, concluded, among other things, that PFTAC is appreciated by the
member countries, regional bodies, donor agencies and other stakeholders. It
found PFTAC to be well integrated within the region and filling a niche that
cannot be filled by other projects. It also concluded that activities are of
high professional quality and are timely, appropriate and well executed. The
appreciation was found to be in large part attributable to its flexibility and
its quick response to requests for assistance.
The
Independent Evaluation also recommended a number of further improvements in
strategic planning, governance and reporting, some of which, as discussed at
the TPRC meeting, will be implemented in the context of the Centres’ 2006-2008 project
document. In particular, the TPRC endorsed the Evaluation’s recommendation that
greater effort should be made to measure the impact of PFTAC’s interventions
and that its activities should be defined more clearly in terms of an overall
strategy which would acknowledge the three distinct types of assistance; ad-hoc
advice, longer-term reform assistance, and capacity building assistance.
The ADB representative observed the need for PFTAC to:-
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develop an output based performance budget
system for PFTAC in order to observe the impact of PFTAC on countries in the
region;
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prioritize work with less emphasis on ad hoc
work;
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concentrate on technical assistance issues and
not become involved in macroeconomic work;
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clarify its role in capacity building;
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align its programs more with other donor
organizations;
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need to improve quality of reporting to each
mission having a pre and post visit report along with indicators of achievement.
Proposed achievements would then be aligned with actual outcomes and,
subsequently the actual achievements of the recommended reforms by member
countries;
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seek member countries to nominate a full-time
counterpart to work with PFTAC advisors so that capacity building can be
focused around implementation of reforms; - developing a second tier of PIC experts to work with PFTAC
advisors.
The AusAid representative noted that PFTAC needed to:
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use national development plans in development of
its own action plans;
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outsource some of the reforms suggested by the
Evaluation Tem (e.g. risk analysis) in order to avoid overburdening staff in
PFATC; and
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increase its focus on outcomes in reporting.
Comments made by PICs were generally supportive of the
Evaluation Report but some specific views expressed were:-
The Cook Islands
representative suggested that availability of quick response assistance
(sometimes referred to as ad hoc help) was important in the Pacific; and there was
an ongoing need for PFTAC to help fill gaps in knowledge and expertise by
training courses.
The FSM representative also supported the development of
further TA capacity building in PFTAC through additional training courses.
The Kiribati
representative supported the need for a quick response to member requests and
to a second tier of consultants and internships to PFTAC.
The Niue representative
stressed the need to ensure coordination with other Pacific bodies including
the Forum and to retain an emphasis on capacity building capacity is retained.
Various forms of communications required for small islands including e-mail and
the internet. This may be facilitated by
greater use of second tier consultants.
The Samoan representative suggested that the work on
capacity building should not come at the expense of basic TA advice on reform
objectives. The development of second tier advisors was also supported as was a
move towards more performance based assessment. A possible name change was also
floated.
The Solomon
Islands representative agreed on the need
for improved reporting but stressed the need for donors to give greater
guidance to PFTAC on the type of reporting required. There was also a need for
continued quick response capacity in PFTAC
as Islanders members needed to obtain guidance in formulating and
developing their reform programs.
The Tongan representative stressed the need for improved
coordination of the work of donors including PFTAC.
The Tuvalu
representative was concerned that improved reporting should be focused so that
it did not place an excessive burden on PFTAC resources. A proposed expanded
use of Island experts as consultants was
welcomed though they should not be labeled as ‘second tier’. There was also a
need for PFTAC to have greater access to longer term consultant capacity if it
was to achieve reforms in smaller islands.
The Vanuatu
representative emphasized the need for improved donor coordination to avoid
overlapping. Whilst recognizing the potential of developing second tier consultants, there was a need to continue the
use of attachments which had proved very useful. There should be a continuing
emphasis on the TA reform role and a recognition that capacity building was a
long term objective. Training courses, such as the case study in PFM presented
at the TRRC, was useful and may be expanded
over time.
In summing up the discussions of the various parties, the coordinator
(Dr. Leruth) observed the discussion of the Evaluation Report had been most
useful and the main points would be incorporated in a revised document that
would be placed on the PFTAC website and also into the project document for the
coming 2006 to 2008 funding triennium (which would be circulated for comment in
the first half 2005).
The main conclusions were:-
1.
There was
a broad acceptance at the meeting of effectiveness of PFTAC and the positive
role it plays in the region. The Center is appreciated by the member
countries, regional bodies, donor agencies and other stakeholders. It is well
integrated within the region and filling a niche that cannot be easily filled
by other projects. There is a recognition that its activities are of high
professional quality and are timely, appropriate and well executed. The
flexibility and quick response to requests for assistance are seen as important
attributes of the Center.
2.
At the same
time, there was string support for a number improvements recommended by the Independent
Evaluation including changes to strategic planning, governance and reporting. In particular, the TPRC endorsed the Evaluation’s
recommendation that greater effort should be made to measure the impact of
PFTAC’s interventions and that its activities should be defined more clearly in
terms of an overall strategy which would acknowledge the three distinct types
of assistance; ad-hoc advice, longer-term reform assistance, and capacity
building assistance.
3.
Within the new
reporting arrangements to be developed in the next funding triennium a
particular emphasis should be placed on costing of PFTAC’s outputs and analysis
of the outcomes that flow from those outputs.
4. There
was an ongoing need for improved coordination by donors and member countries. He
instanced the need for improved coordination in the financial supervision area
and the development of the ASFSPC as a possible vehicle for coordination in
that area of specialization. PFTAC should continue to work closely with donors
to improve such coordination.
5. PFTAC also need to explore other ways to
strengthen its capacity building activities. Whilst there should be a continuation
of its annual seminar program on selected topics of interest, it should explore
the implementation of two interrelated strategies. First, the desirability of
preparing a number of specialized training courses that can be delivered
through traditional workshops or through distance learning. Second, possibility that PFTAC will help
build and work closely with regional organizations and institutions. This may
include sharing of laws, regulations, systems, and training facilities. These
arrangements should continue to be complemented by the arrangement and financing of practical
training through attachments of country officials to sister institutions in the
region or other qualified administrations.
6. There was considerable support for the idea of
adding a second tier of experts to the PFTAC staffing. However, progress
will depend on the final funding provided by donors and the establishment of
workable terms and conditions for such experts."
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Cook
Islands
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Hon. Teremoana Tapi Taio
Minister of Finance
Email : k.mataroa@mow.gov.ck
Mr K Mataroa
Chief Executive Officer
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FSM
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Mr John
Uwas
Assistant Secretary Customs & Tax
Email : juwas@mail.fm
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Fiji
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Mr Peceli Vocea
Deputy Secretary – Ministry of Finance
Ms Rosette Gabriel
Ministry of Finance
Ms Lorraine Seeto
Chief Manager (CPA) – Reserve Bank
Email : lorraine@rbf.gov.fj
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Kiribati
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Honorable Nabuti Mwemwenikarawa
Minister of Finance
Email : mtaneti@hotmail.com
Ms Makereta
Raiman
Commissioner of Tax
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Nauru
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[Not represented]
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Niue
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Honorable Toke
Talagi
Minister of Finance
Email : secgov.premier@mail.gov.nu
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PNG
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Mr Lucas Alkan
Assistant Secretary (Fiscal)
Email : Lucas_Alkan@treasury.gov.pg
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Palau
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Mr Elbuchel Sadang
Minister of Finance
Email : esadang@palaugov.net
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Republic of Marshall
Islands
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Mr Casten Nemra
Assistant Secretary of Finance for Customs and Taxation
Email : oidafin@ntamar.net
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Samoa
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Mr Iulai Lavea
Deputy Financial Secretary;
Email : ilavea@lesamoa.ws
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Solomon Islands
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Hon. Francis Zama
Minister of Finance
Email 1: regatule@solomon.com.sb/
Email 2 : sfanega@mof.gov.sb
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Tokelau
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[Not represented]
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Tonga
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Ms Meleseini
Lomu
Acting Secretary of Finance
Email : mlomu@finance.gov.to
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Tuvalu
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Hon. Bikenibeu Paeniu
Minister of Finance
Email : minsepi@tuvalu.tv
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Vanuatu
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Mr Odo
Tevi
Governor – Reserve Bank of Vanuatu
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OTHERS
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AUSAID
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Ms Susan Ivatts
Email : susan.ivatts@dfat.gov.au
Ms Rebecca Lannin
Email : rebecca_lannin@ausaid.gov.au
Ms Mereseini
Bower
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NZAID
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[not represented]
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ADB
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Ms. Sirpa Jarvenpaa
Regional
Director – Suva Office
Email : sjarvenpaa@adb.org
Ms. Sophia Ho
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IMF
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Mr. Chris Browne
Assistant Director – APD
Email : CBROWNE@imf.org
Mr Brian Christensen; OTM,
Email : BCHRISTENSEN@imf.org
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EU
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Ms Myfanwy Van
de Velde
Counselor – Trade Economic Integration & Private
Sector Development
Email :
myfanwy.van-de-velde@cec.eu.int
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Japan
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Ms Mayumi Kubo
2nd Secretary – Japan Embassy
Mr Ono Masayoshi
Project Formulation Advisor
JICA Fiji
Office
Email : Ono.Masayoshi@jica.go.jp
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Forum Secretariat
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