The South Sudanese government has announced that a National Economic Conference will be held from September 4 to 8.
The announcement for the preparation of the conference comes after President Salva Kiir directed the National Ministry of Finance in March to conduct a National Economic Conference to address challenges facing the country’s economy.
At the time, several lawmakers and civil society activists welcomed Kiir’s call for a conference to address economic hardships.
More than a decade after independence, South Sudan remains impacted by fragility, economic stagnation, and instability. Poverty is ubiquitous, exacerbated by conflict, displacement, and external shocks.
Addressing a press conference in Juba on Wednesday, Finance Minister Dier Tong Ngor said the five-day economic conference, which will be held from 4-8 September, will bring together national, regional and international experts.
“This conference is a result of the problems we have been facing in South Sudan, especially related to either external shocks or internal challenges that we are having always or sometimes,” he said.
“We have been addressing these issues separately. We have never had an opportunity as a country since independence to come together with all our sectors of the economy, all our partners. We have never had an opportunity to come together and think holistically about how we can coordinate,” Tong added.
The minister said the economic conference aims to inform the economic sector and other stakeholders about the current status of the economy and public financial management reforms, achievements and challenges and will also seek to allow the economic sector and other stakeholders to present their main concerns and challenges on the economic situation in the country and proposals to address them.
Ngor pointed out that the conference will identify priorities to manage current and medium-term economic challenges and identify areas that will move South Sudan out of oil revenue dependency.
“The outcome of the conference will be used to promote a policy dialogue aimed at achieving macroeconomic stability, sustainable resource mobilization, effective planning and budgeting, prudent resource allocation and government spending, organizational capacity strengthening, and presenting South Sudan as an investment destination to the world,” he said.