NRI: Markets need better management

Markets provide food and income for households which sustain and improve livelihoods of our people. Markets are also vital spaces for informal meeting and socialization.

Marketplaces play an important economic function to create employment for workers, generate revenue for local and provincial authorities, provide opportunities for small businesses, and contribute to economic growth.

Given the significant social and economic benefits of markets, there is a strong argument for market policy, planning and implementation to be integrated into mainstream municipal and local government policy and regulatory systems.

The report: “Managing marketplaces: Lessons from a comparative study of four markets in Papua New Guinea. PNG NRI Discussion Paper No. 191” by PNG NRI Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader, Dr Elizabeth Kopel and former Research Project Officer Lewis Iwong, can help better understand why some markets work well while others do not.

The lessons from four main markets: Alotau, Mt Hagen, Kokopo and Lae can help Provincial and Local Level Government Authorities develop policies and improve administration and management systems of markets which can create an enabling environment going forward. A better understanding of challenges and constraints can inform positive interventions that can improve local markets.

There is also a need for better management and close monitoring of the use of infrastructure and market services including access to water, hygiene and sanitation services which contribute to make facilities and services sustainable.

Better management and sustainable services can create a genuine enabling environment not just for vendors, but all market users. 

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Press Release