Call made to help weavers sell products

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
PEOPLE can earn good money from handcraft they make if they can access good markets, a businesswoman says.
Singu Arts and Craft director Lina Singu, was one of the participants at the Australia-PNG business forum and trade expo this week held at The Stanley Hotel and Suites in Port Moresby.
He told The National that the process of making handcraft such as bilum and necklace required a lot of hard work.
“But when we sell them at local markets back home, we do not make much to complement the efforts we put in them. There are competition both in price and quality among handcraft-makers,” she said.
Singu, 48, from Kamanambit village in East Sepik,  regards herself lucky to have participated in the business expo under the Pacific Horticulture and Agricultural Market Access Programme.
It had assisted her to gain exposure and even establish new contacts.
Singu said it would assist her to gain more customers and make more money. She is a registered member of the Bilum Export and Promotion Association.
BEPA executive officer Sharlene Gawi said they were happy to have PHAMA’s partnership to bring one of their weavers and handcraft designer from Wewak.
“Part of what we do is to help our local weavers gain market access domestically and internationally,” she said.