Government must support small businesses

I APPRECIATE the National Development Bank taking the initiative to support the inaugural PNG indigenous business summit proposed to be held in Kokopo.
I hope the summit will become a forum to discuss government policies and business model that have worked in other countries similar to Papua New Guinea’s settings.
The bank’s CEO Richard Maru claims that 20% PNG businesses are in the hands of nationals.
I think this is a good percentage to start with to increase the level of indigenous ownership.
I am yet to see a comprehensive government policy that talks about supporting small business.
The Vision 2050 is ambiguous on small business and the document was written by people who are elitist and far removed from a coffee farmer in the Highlands or a cocoa producer in the New Guinea islands.
What we need is a strategy and a road map to guide us on how to execute the strategy to increase indigenous ownership.
For instance, in 20 years we want to increase indigenous ownership of business to 30%.
The question is how do we achieve that?
We need a team of people headed by the department of trade and industry to write the strategy paper.

Glick D Lambea
Sydney, NSW