Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru has acknowledged the New Zealand Government’s support for the Papua New Guinea SME sector.
He thanked the NZ Government during New Zealand Economic Support Morning Tea yesterday.
Present at the event was the New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, who met with the entrepreneurs whom the New Zealand Government have been supporting through the Business Link Pacific (BLP) Program. This program provides access to business advisory services, concessional lending, and grants, with a particular focus on supporting women-owned businesses and those in rural areas.
“On behalf of the Marape-Rosso Government, I want to thank the New Zealand Government for not only helping us with seasonal employment but for also assisting many Papua New Guineans in the SME sector, Mr Maru said.
“Apart from the BLP Program, the New Zealand Government has provided significant financial assistance for the upgrade of the Gordons market, Kimbe market and now the Lae market. Markets are where most of our SMEs and mothers from the informal sector sell their products and we want this to be replicated in the rest of the provinces and districts in the country to support our mothers and sisters.
“On our part as the Government, we have consistently been providing over K100 million per year over the last seven years to make SME loans available. We have also recently made a decision to fund the Women’s Microbank (Mama Bank) through grant funding assistance so our mothers can access cheaper and more accessible loans.
“At the moment we have about 50,000 registered formal SMEs. There is scope for more. We need to identify them, train them, encourage them, create business opportunities for them, and create an environment where they can operate and thrive in,” he said.
Minister Maru announced during his address that the NEC had just recently made a decision to support SMEs with a grant funding of K100,000 per company. He clarified that the grant was specifically for supporting SMEs export their products to other countries.
“This grant will be handled on a competitive bidding process. More details will be announced soon. Our Government is ready to drive the growth of the SME sector,” said Minister Maru.
Whilst acknowledging New Zealand for being “a very dear friend to PNG over the last 50 years”, Mr Mari said both countries needed to seriously look beyond just having a diplomatic partnership and anchor the relationship through a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) going forward.
“One of the chapters that we want to write in this Agreement is how New Zealand will support us to grow our SME sector, support our entrepreneurs and look for their markets in New Zealand.”
Minister Maru reiterated that PNG will never be a part of PACER Plus. “We are a big island nation. We have the resources, we have the population, we have our own issues and our own national interest that must be catered for.”
“As we take a stock take our last 50 years, there is so much to be done and we need partners like New Zealand to help us unleash the potential that we have always had as a country. We need genuine partners like New Zealand who will help us to build industries, grow our businesses and create employment.”
Congratulation to our hard working minister Honorable Maru. I agreed in principle to his national statement regarding SME.
Fascinating to see and hear our government talks about funding for SME out of budgets and our Foreign government inputs as New Zealand just come in in Sme but the results are at minimum when it comes to really dealing with business.
Main motives behind the not really progressing as expected all over national businesses small or big dramatically appears for 1-2 years and gone cannot see any more is terrible due to tough competitions they are in due to the influx of Asians everywhere in retailing shops and even lodges.
Government needs to separate boundaries where our Foreign investors are to operate and in what areas of businesses. Otherwise we are sliently defeated. Believe it or not table markets and vegetable markets are main source of financial earnings. I may be wrong but this is what I had observed over the years. Sme workshops is solution to maintain competitive edges within the same locations where business similarities are there without business knowledge and skills millions,thousands and hundreds are nothing.
If a person is assisted by somebody else’s submitting financial proposals receive finance in connection to cronies to carry out sme can not expand but remain small until the owner goes away from this world.
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