The ODI is a leading independent research organisation based in the UK which specialises in international development and humanitarian issues. It works with partners in the public and private sectors in both developed and developing countries by providing high quality research, policy advice and policy-focused dissemination and debate. Substantially funded by the UK Government, it has a Fellowship Scheme which has been sending young postgraduate economists to work in public sectors in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific since 1963. Currently 23 developing country governments and two regional bodies are partners in the Fellowship Scheme which has enabled them to build capacity as well as improve implementation of economic policy.

A total of 54 ODI Fellows from a number of countries have worked with core government departments in Papua New Guinea under the programme. PNG Government agencies that have benefited from the programme include the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG), Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), the National Treasury Department, the Department of Planning & Monitoring, Department of Trade & Industry (now Department of Commerce and Industry), Department of Minerals & Energy (now Department of Minerals & Geohazards), Department of Finance, Department of Agriculture & Livestock, National Agriculture Bank and the Public Service Commission. There are currently three ODI placements in PNG working with the IRC, the National Treasury and the Bank of PNG.
 
More information on the ODI and its various programmes can be accessed from its website: http://www.odi.org.uk/