Asian Development Bank Report Finds Rise of Women in PNG's Business Landscape

A new report by Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) of Asian Development Bank says that the women’s proportion in business leadership is steadily increasing in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with most leadership positions. However, it is still lagging somewhere in the Pacific regional average.

As per the report, the average women directors’ proportion in Pacific increased from 21 percent in the year 2021 to 26 percent this year which is just above the global average of 23 percent in 2023. In addition, the women chief executive officers’ (CEO) average proportion in the Pacific increased from 13 percent to 20 percent which a good increase above the global average of 6 percent.

The author of the report Sarah Boxall, PSDI Economic Empowerment of Women Expert said, “The new Leadership Matters report finds that women's representation in business leadership in Papua New Guinea has generally risen since 2021 but the rate of progress is slow and the country sits below Pacific regional averages in all measures.”

She added, “This signals that continued efforts are required to create more inclusive and diverse corporate cultures in Papua New Guinea. Interviews with business leaders revealed many promising strategies designed to increase the number of women in leadership roles that are likely to yield results in the coming years.”