Golding warns about regulating MSMEs

By PETER ESILA
REGULATING the growth of micro-to-small-to-medium enterprises (MSME) is not good for the sector, says Wayne Golding, chairman of policy and secretariat of the Apec Business Advisory Council of PNG (Abac PNG).
He said this during a panel discussion at the Apec CEO Summit on board the cruise liner Pacific Explorer in Port Moresby last Saturday.
“I do not think that is helpful to regulate for growth in the MSME sector,” Golding said.
“It is not going to help you.
“It actually eliminates competition and creates in real terms a cost.
“Government is too slow. There is a bit of shift in PNG.
“The idea is that you can regulate for MSME growth and there are policies in place.
“MSMEs are more effective and adoptive, and certainly successful if you provide them the platform that they can play in so they can work themselves up.”
“Competition among MSMEs and competition among corporations or businesses in general is the revolution in communications.”
Golding said without competition, MSME growth was not going to happen.
“I think competition now is a very serious matter,” he said.
“If you allow competition to flow, MSMEs will grow.
“If you regulate MSMEs, you think you are helping them but you are not, competition is what makes it happen.”
Scott Price, chief strategy and transformation officer of UPS said: “Governments are absolutely too slow.
“It is the reality that is frustrating for businesses.
“We are working in an environment of speed and many cases being constrained by a lack of modernised regulatory environment.”