This week SME Magazine with SME Corporation and Diamond sponsors Teachers Savings and Loans Society (TISA) hosted the 4th Annual Small Medium Enterprise meeting.
In a panel discussion, small enterprises met to talk about their start-ups, challenges faced and their achievements.
Clark and Tali Piokole spoke about their start-up of the Pharmaceutical Retail Start-up, which is the first national pharmacy set up.
The breakfast covered the theme, Resilience and Rebuilding discussing the SME Development and Growth and raised critical issues around that area.
Milne Bay SME Association President, Rhona Conn spoke about her experience on her start-up and Deborah Yassa Yalu about PNG Solidarity.
“We don’t need handouts, we need to be able to be in a system that allows us to retain the money that we make. We need a system that is conducive and enabling for us to retain the money that we can make on our own,” Conn said.
Prime Minister, James Marape thanked the SME for their hard work and dedication.
The Government’s SME Policy has set itself some ambitious goals by 2030 that includes:
- Grow SMEs to 500,000
- Grow formal employment to 2 million
- Reduce unemployment to 49 percent
- Increase citizen control over the formal economy to 70 per cent
- Increase SME contribution to GDP to 50 percent and;
- Increase per capita income