Container shop opens

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday October 10th, 2013

 By FIDELIS SUKINA

THE first Supa V Stoa opened at Hanuabada yesterday.

The opening ceremony was attended by partners in the initiative, including National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop and chief executives of Digicel, Bank South Pacific and Super Value Stores. 

The initiative by NCD and other business houses will rollout 16 similar container shops around Motu-Koitabu and the city in the pilot programme.

Parkop said it was a way to start business locally, especially the Motu-Koitabu areas.

“The stores will be on a loan basis and the owners will pay back the money in three years for them to own it,” Parkop said.

The stores will receive cargo from SVS and the owners, Frank and Michelin Toua, had gone through two weeks of basic training in financial management to run the store. 

The services provided by the container shops will feature BSP tablet services, which would help villagers to deposit and open accounts, and Digicel top-ups will be available there.

Digicel chief executive John Mangos said the programme was aimed at bringing affordability of services to the local level.

“It’s trying to bring the affordability to the locals to help the burden of travelling to town to access the same services,” Mangos said.

He said business houses would support local businesses to help bring economic growth in areas such as the Motu-Koitabu.

Parkop said NCD was the first province for the rollout programme  and if successful, it could be suggested to other provinces.