The real story is not with the large corporations. It is with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
This was the statement by the UNDP Resident Representative in PNG, Dirk Wagener, during the recent Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises Day.
“It is these enterprises that often bring us the innovations and drive for change. Lest we forget, Apple started in a garage in California, as did Amazon or Alibaba whose owner Jack Ma, is now the richest man in China with an estimated net worth of $25 billion dollars,” Wagener pointed out.
“He initially worked as an English teacher and made about K40 a month. He also tried to get a job at KFC but was rejected and the rest is history. He convinced some friends to invest into his small, e-commerce start-up. It is now one of the largest global online retailers in the world.
“According to the International Council for Small Business, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – whether formal or informal – make up over 90 percent of all firms. They account for 60-70 percent of total employment and 50 percent of GDP worldwide.
“They are responsible for significant employment and income generation opportunities across the world and have been identified as a major driver of poverty eradication and development.
“MSMEs tend to employ a larger share of the more vulnerable sectors of the workforce, such as women, youth, and people from poorer households. MSMEs are often the only source of employment in rural areas.
“As such, MSMEs as a group are the main provider of income distribution at the ‘base of the income pyramid’.”
(UNDP Resident Representative, Dirk Wagener, and PM James Marape)