Minister challenges SOEs to operate as firms

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

THE Minister for State Enterprise and Investment, Ben Micah, has challenged state-owned enterprises to think, plan and operate as businesses.

Micah said they had to make profit locally and internationally or lose out to foreign competitive investments.

He gave this challenge last Friday in Lae, Morobe, when officiating at the launch of Post Logistics, a subsidiary of Post PNG.

Micah warned the management of SOEs, including the board chairmans, board of directors, the chief executive officers, to individually perform their duties to satisfactorily please their paying customers.

Micah said K3 billion was floating in between the SOEs and called on them to seriously partner with each other to meet the demands of each sector to satisfactorily supply the goods and services which was slowly being taken over by foreign companies that were competing to make profits.

“The time has come for SOEs to move away from the traditional public service culture,” Micah said.

“If you have to deliver goods at one o’clock in the morning, you must do it,” Micah said.

 “All you SOE heads must support each other,” the Kavieng MP, who began his professional, business and political carrier in Lae, said.