The United Nations Development Programme says it's not too late for Papua New Guinea to convert its resource wealth into sustainable benefits for its citizens' wellbeing.
The UNDP has released its National Human Development Report on PNG.
It notes that despite PNG's remarkable economic growth of the past decade, almost 40 per cent of the population live on less than a dollar per day, with inequalities on the rise.
The UNDP's PNG representative, Roy Trivedy, says PNG's development could be further undermined if resources are not used in economically, socially and environmentally sustainable ways.
"The one thing that I would say which Papua New Guinea has, and why this report is particularly important now, is unlike many other countries who have chopped down their forests, who have actually polluted their environments and so on, Papua New Guinea has not done all of that. There is a danger that we could do more of that and things will become irreversible over the next decade or so."
The UNDP's Papua New Guinea representative, Roy Trivedy.
The latest Global Human Development Index ranks PNG 157th out of 187 countries.
