Firms, govt eye digital inclusion

Apec senior finance officials’ meeting chair Andrew Oaeke says mobile network companies and the Government will work out a win-win situation for digital inclusion.
He said this at a meeting in Madang when asked what approach the Papua New Guinea economy would take to address the issue.
This was in light of about 75 per cent of the country still living in areas not accessible to mobile networks, yet, were one target group for digital banking.
Oaeke said technical support for informal sector markets should be provided as the majority of people in the country were involved in this.
He said people involved in arts and crafts, botanic and flower arrangements and other informal sector businesses had the impression that they were small-to-medium enterprises.
Oaeke said the four-day Apec senior finance officials’ meeting last week was not just for discussions.
He said it also focused on how economies could translate their experiences and agenda to impact on those in the informal sector in terms of financial inclusion.
A discussion revealed that there was a disconnection between the informal and formal sector.
Bank of Papua New Guinea assistant-governor Ellison Pidik said people operating businesses in the formal sector should learn to save regularly and make it a habit, so that they could rely on their savings for future benefits.