Fiji’s 3-Year, 5-Year And 20-Year NDP - adopting some best practices

THE Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics is currently formulating the new 3-year, 5-year and 20-year National Development Plan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development & Statistics, Biman Prasad said the NDP would need to be realistic and all initiatives stated in it will be backed by the required financial resources.

It should not over-promise or raise expectations higher than it can deliver.

Essentially, it is crucial to set expectations at the right level. While setting timelines and targets are critical, it must be based on the financial resources that are available and implementation capacity.

Head of Strategic Office at the Ministry, Kamal Gounder, said that a national development plan has to be centred around the people and must be inclusive.

He said that it should respond to the needs and issues faced by the people as well as reflect their aspirations.

A winning plan must be one that will touch their lives in some form or manner.

It must bring tangible results where people from all walks of life – people on the street, in rural areas, urban folk, businesses, youth, women, children, elderly and vulnerable groups feel a sense of enrichment and improvement.

The plan must be able to be demonstrate how these different segments of society benefit from the plan.

Therefore, an in-depth understanding of people’s concerns, what matters most to them and their aspirations is absolutely important in formulating the plan.

In this context, the current nationwide consultative process being undertaken by the Coalition Government was absolutely important.

Mr Gounder added that a Plan must set out its development priorities. There are many things that need to be fixed, but the plan must be crystal clear in what it wants to achieve based on each timeline.

Setting the development priorities will provide the basis for efficient resource allocation.

Yogeesvaran Kumaraguru, a consultant funded through a technical assistance from World Bank, has been assisting the Strategic Planning Office in the formulation of the new plan.

Mr Kumaraguru said that an effective, transparent and accountable monitoring & evaluation (M&E) mechanism was critical to monitor progress, take corrective steps and ensure that the plan was implemented and achieves the desired outcomes.

He added that there should be a transparent and regular public reporting process within the M&E framework to keep the people regularly informed of the progress.

The plan must be backed by an effective and well-planned communication strategy to bring the plan to the people.

It should be a living plan which allows for flexibility to make adjustments due to new and unexpected developments and events.

Mr Kumaraguru said that the annual budget must be premised on the plan as the budget cannot go one way and the plan another.