Finding Balance in Pacific State-owned Enterprise Reform

2 January 2014
Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative

Finding Balance in Pacific State-owned Enterprise Reform
SOE reform is crucial to private sector development.

Over the past decade, the Asian Development Bank has been working with a number of Pacific island countries to reform their state-owned enterprise (SOEs) sectors. Key in driving this agenda has been the publishing of the Finding Balance series: in-depth, country-level situational analysis which seeks to strike a balance between the roles of the public and private sector.

SOEs continue to play a important role in many Pacific island countries. They absorb large amounts of scarce capital, on which they provide very low returns. While some provide essential public services, many others operate as purely commercial ventures and crowd out the private sector.

Many have performed poorly. Reforming the SOE sector is vital for private sector development, as it will create opportunities for private investment, reduce the costs of doing business and improve basic services by introducing private sector discipline and competitive market pressures into the SOE sector.

The Finding Balance series has proved a valuable advocacy tool in driving these reforms. Find out more here:

Knowledge repository:
• Finding Balance and other SOE Reform publications and resources
• Finding Balance 2009: Making State-Owned Enterprises Work in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga
• Finding Balance 2011: Benchmarking the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises in Fiji, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tonga
• Finding Balance 2012: Benchmarking the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises in Papua New Guinea

ENDS

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