SME

There was corporate support and hundreds of city residents who attended the fair.

NCD Governor Powes Parkop said the fair is a platform to help start the journey towards achieving the national government’s target of 500,000 SMEs in PNG by 2030.

Governor Parkop added that the way forward to have greater control over our economy is to become successful businessmen and women.

In receiving the cheque on behalf of the Kavieng Golf Club (KGC), President Shaun Keane said the donation will make an important contribution to bringing back proper maintenance for the club.

“The Kavieng Golf Club is a community hub for people in New Ireland Province, and an important part of our National tourism infrastructure.

“We will use this donation to purchase a tractor exclusively to maintain the golf course.

“Golf is a sport that attracts a lot of Papua New Guinean players and our club has produced some good golfers through the years.

Being the president of the PNG MSME Council, he has been the voice advocating the development of SME in PNG for over a decade now.

Having begun his career in finance in 2005 and in years after that has built a field of knowledge in how better to assist individuals in the SME sector.

He said every successful financial strategy starts with an excellent client relationship.

I was employed for almost twelve years in the Information Technology industry, but I always had a passion for arts and being creative and one day owning a clothing brand that portrays Papua New Guinea's rich and diverse culture and traditional heritage embedded in the contemporary attires.

With that driving force and aspiration we decided to start up our own clothing brand label Hidomo Wear.

“I come from a family of 5, including my adopted brother. There are two girls and three boys in my family. I am married with 5 children, and 4 grandchildren.”

“I am a full time teacher with the International Education Agency for over 20 years and I teach at Gordon International School, but I have been using my free time and holidays to teach basic life skills, especially sewing to beginners.”

“One of my other interests is in fixing cars, and although I work with Air Niugini, I have turned this interest into a business.” 

A survey by Pacific Trade and Invest shows 90 percent of Pacific SMEs report a decline in revenue since the pandemic hit and 92 per cent believe COVID-19 has negatively influenced the economy.

The outbreak has severely affected the operations and profitability of their businesses.

Not only that, those employed by the SMEs have lost  jobs as they could not sustain the impact of the outbreak.

Travel bans and restrictions on gatherings have also affected businesses in PNG and the Pacific.

He highlighted this during Monday’s presentation of an initial seed capital of K200,000 to East New Britain Savings and Loans Society (ENBSL) to empower local women’s SMEs.

Minister Wong presented the cheque payment to ENBSL’s member services and branch support officer, Shirley Kabavas.

Minister Wong said this funding will be parked at ENBSL and established women’s associations in the district’s five rural Local Level Governments can access this funding as loans with a loan repayment interest rate of only one percent (1%).

Two-hundred-and-eighty interested SMEs turned up at last week’s information night at the Kumul Foundation Inc PNG Startup Hub to listen to Foundation Chairman, Anthony Smaré, and entrepreneurship developer, Des Yaninen, talk about the benefits at the Convention. This includes the PitchFest where SMEs will be pitching to raise money.  

Hundreds of tickets have been taken up, and startups and other SMEs have signed on for SME stalls and promotion opportunities at the week-long event. 

Minister for Inter-Government Relations, Kevin Isifu, says the SME facility will be established once land is identified.

The Minister responsible for the Wutung Border Post in West Sepik says an international bus service and terminal have also been proposed.

The SME facility will accommodate locals at the border to sell their goods to visiting Indonesians.

“We will properly identify the area that they (SMEs) can be able to do their marketing. So the SME business will be relocated as soon as we find the land,” Isifu said.