ENB okays funding to promote SMEs

By ABIGAIL APINA
THE East New Britain provincial government has approved an allocation of K900,000 to promote and strengthen small-and- medium enterprises.                             
The funding allocation will be managed by Kokopo Microfinance under the public private partnership initiative.
Kokopo Microfinance Ltd is financial institution licensed by the Bank of Papua New Guinea and was providing micro banking services to the people at the grassroots level.
In a statement, the provincial government said it recognised the needs and aspiration and desires of the people in developing good entrepreneurial skills and up-scaling into commercial ventures in the province.
It had agreed to encourage linkages with organised financial institutions and facilities that can provide opportunities to the people of the province to pursue wealth creation.
“We believe this can be well achieved under the PPP programme with KML where people can access funding to create projects,” Governor Leo Dion said.
 or assets to generate cash flows while not necessarily giving in to providing free hand-outs,” Governor Leo Dion said.