Photo credit: Loop PNG
The National Fisheries Authority named Justin Ilakini as its new Managing Director in an official statement on July 28.
Ilakini has extensive knowledge of the fishing industries in both Papua New Guinea and the region. He was born and raised in Gavuone Village, Central Province, and served with the NFA for eight years before accepting advising positions with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in Honiara, Solomon Islands (FFA). He worked with the governments of Pacific FFA members and key figures in the tuna business throughout his more than nine years of service to the FFA, promoting regional economic integration and facilitating investment.
He rejoined the NFA in 2019, and he has since been given the job of Managing Director. Mr. Ilakini brings to NFA a strong desire to advance a transformation agenda.
Two key elements of this transition will be the organisational and fisheries sector reforms.
The major goal of these changes is to make sure that the NFA, as an organisation, is in the best possible position to preserve the development pillars that are mentioned in the Fisheries Strategic Plan 2021–2030. They are as follows:
- Resource Sustainability
- Maximizing Socio-economic Benefits
- Maximizing Revenue
Ilakini states, “At the NFA our key mandated function is to protect and sustainably manage our resource and to ensure it is secured for our children for generations to come, but at the same time we also have the challenge to generate and raise revenue.”
“Those functions at times can have conflicting policy objectives with each other, so through the wisdom of the National Fisheries Board, and under my leadership, we will endeavour to ensure government policy directives are effectively implemented through appropriate structural changes.”
The primary agenda items backed and strongly supported by the Government are outlined in Ilakini's inaugural 90-day plan as key emphasis areas that aim to jump-start key parts of organisational strengthening along with increasing the NFA's reach into the commercial sphere.
Ilakini states “We have established a commercial entity that is 100% owned by the NFA.
“This commercial entity, namely Fisheries Capital Limited will be the engine room for maximizing revenue, enabling key infrastructure to help expand our fisheries industry, grow downstream processing, increase local participation and be solely responsible for capitalizing the sector with PNG interests at its heart. This can also be seen as our strategy to capitalize on our major source of revenue, the vessel days scheme (VDS), wherein we will look at creating more value from our tuna resources, instead of just rent-seeking.”
"Transform Papua New Guinea into a significant commercial fisheries hub in the Asia Pacific" is the overriding goal of these programmes. This includes embracing efforts for digital transformation to enhance service delivery and better position the NFA to be digitally nimble in the rapidly changing world of e-commerce and digital business.
Reference: Loop (1 August 2022). “Dawn of a new era for NFA”.
