Establishing more SMEs will create jobs: CEO

ESTABLISHING more small to medium enterprises will create more employment and lift the living standards of people, a bank’s chief executive officer says.
National Development Bank Investments chief executive officer Desmond Yaninen said during the launching of the new Ultimax Security Firm and website last Friday in Port Moresby that the Government launched the small to medium enterprises (SME) policy in March to encourage people to be involved and be self-sufficient in business.
Its target every year for the next 15 years, is to set up 30,000 small businesses owned by locals.
“Just to put that into perspective, over the past 40 years, Papua New Guinea had only 50,000 small to medium enterprises in the country,” Yaninen said.  “In 2016, 30,000 SMEs, 2017 another 30,000, until the year 2030.
“We are looking at over 500,000 SME business registered and locally owned and operating in Papua New Guinea.”
He said 500,000 SMEs meant the creation of two million jobs.
“We should now be happy we have the support of the Government to grow the SME sector,” he said.
He pointed out that last year, 24,000 students sat for the Grade 12 examination but only 4000 were accepted to attend tertiary institutions.
“So when we as parents keep pushing our children to be better educated to hold manager positions and chief executive officers, the reality is that there is not enough capacity for everyone,” he said.
“Once you come out of university with your degree, what guarantee do you have that you will get a job?”
He said only 300,000 jobs were available for the country’s 10 million people. “That is the reason I am promoting SMEs in the country for people to be interested in it.”