By ZEBEDEE KUMPIO
A MEMORANDUM of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the SME Corporation (SMEC) and Kokonus Indastri Koperesen (KIK) today at the Kokoda Trail Motel in Central Province.
The MoU was signed by SMEC Managing Director, Mr Petrus Ralda, and Kokonus Indastri Koperesen (KIK) Managing Director, Mr Alan Aku.
The aim of the MoU is for the parties to cooperate in the promotion, growth, and development of new and existing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises involved in the coconut industry.
Mr Ralda said as a developing economy where the majority of the people are in the informal sector, SMEs are key to empowering them.
He emphasized that all stakeholders, including policy institutions and implementing agencies, need to work together to support SMEs because the majority of the population are in the informal sector, and SMEs are key to empowering them.
“For example, KIK has the technical knowledge of research development of coconut products and downstream processing of coconuts but lacks farmers with business knowledge of business management, financial cash flow analysis, and marketing skills to complement the downstream processing of coconuts,” Mr Ralda said.
“Through this partnership, SMEC and KIK will be able to leverage resources, skills, and knowledge in terms of functionality with respect to our different functions to support SMEs in the coconut industry.”
The SMEC MD praised KIK for working with SMEs and collecting statistics on the number of SMEs involved in the coconut industry, making it easier for the two corporations to work together in helping these SMEs.
Mr Aku said not all organizations have the knowledge and resources to develop SMEs or any other development on their own, which is why this partnership is very important.
“This partnership is important to us because we have SMEs that we have developed, and we need to train them on how to do financial management, cash flow, plus management of resources and marketing,” the KIK MD said.
