Marape promises to remove impediments for MSME

PRIME Minister James Marape has assured the micro, small to medium enterprises (MSMEs) that the government will remove impediments and stimulate growth.
Speaking at the World MSME Day yesterday, Marape said MSMEs in PNG had a bright future but needed everyone to work together to identify and remove the impediments.
“We have a small economy and a small tax paying base and so the need to make interventions in MSME is important for us to grow the economy,” he said.
“There are about 50,000 of you right across the country and those in the formal employment sector five per cent amounts to only five percent private or public sector.
“We carry the load for 95 per cent of the country.
“The taxes you pay, carries the burden of 90 per cent of this country.”
Marape said a country that needed quality education, health, reliable infrastructure, to be safe and dispensing justice on time, these are things that are run at the back of a government that is collecting from a greater revenue base.
“Unfortunately, our country’s growth in SME has been quite slow and our ability to engage our graduates more into an expanded economic base is reduced because we don’t have an expanded capacity of employment in our country,” he said.
“That’s why we have a huge wage bill because the public service is the only biggest employer.
“We have to expand our economic base.
“We are conscious of who you are and the struggles of hopefully together we can find the right pitch to ensure that you are given the right environment to flourish and grow going into the future.”