Women’s participation vital to growth of economy

WOMEN’S participation in entrepreneurship is a catalyst to social change and economic growth, a state minister says.
Soroi Eoe, the Minister for Youth, Community Development and Religion, attended the opening of the expo for women economic empowerment at Kokopo in East New Britain.
He said women made up 50 percent of the population, and through the economic empowerment of women, there was the opportunity to develop a stronger nation.
He said this was because of women’s direct input to the welfare and development of the next generation.
He was glad to meet the leading women entrepreneurs gathered in Kokopo.
“You have set the pace in business among women in the country. And our participation in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in 2018 provides us a great opportunity and platform to expose your business to the 20 economies to grow and expand your business,” he said.
He said this could either be through establishing networks or adding value to their products and services.
Eoe said they were mindful of the  challenges of doing business including the lack of infrastructure, security and access to credit for business and market access.
“These are some of the challenges Apec is working to address at the international level,” he said.
However, despite the challenges, he encouraged entrepreneurs to be persistent and committed to seeing the outcomes of their goals to improve lives and solve some of these problems faced by the country.