Pass law to reserve businesses for locals, Maru urges Marape
YANGORU-Saussia MP Richard Maru wants Prime Minister James Marape to commit to the tabling of a legislation to bring back reserve businesses.
“The Government should pass the legislation in the Parliament sitting in August to bring back the compressive set of reserve businesses that are reserved for Papua New Guineans only,” he said.
“Our people have been calling on the Government to do this and I do not know why the Government had been unable to bring that critical legislation to Parliament.
“The legation had been ready for more than three years.
“Why are the ministers holding back this legislation? They should be ashamed of themselves.
“We are elected by the people to come and act on their interest, not ourselves nor the interest of the few others.
“The power belongs to the people who want to be given the opportunities in small businesses in this country.”
Maru, also people’s First Party leader, challenged the Government to do more for MSME to support PNG’s to economic growth.
“We have to make it attractive, we must support our citizens to go into business,” he said.
Maru said he appreciated the Government’s support of cheaper loans through the National Development Bank and Bank South Pacific under the stimulus package but SME sector needed more Government support than just giving out loans.
“Giving cheaper loans is not going to help grow the sector by leaps and bounds,” he said.
“It means people will get cheaper loans but it is not enough to grow the sector.
“We need to grow from 50,000 businesses to 200,000 to 300 000 to create mass employment.”
5 comments
how good is this??
The equity is too much killing every aspiring talents.
Hon, Richard Maru, MP was there in the past years. Now he is speaking a different language. Allocation of monies for SME sector and only accessible to the well connected and only available to a few defeats the intent and purposes of the SME sector. The former minister is now seeing things through a different SME prism. What a shame.
SME business allocation of monies by Governments does not and will not bear the intended results as there are no special SME technical school to up-skill and train PNG people. There should be such SME special school built in all provinces and districts through out the length and breath of the country. These schools should teach basic lessons in catering, carpentery, furniture making, electrical, mechanical trades, brick making, etc ) to engage in with the intention to up lift families by utilizing resources readily available at home. The formal schools are expensive in itself for enrolments and besides the established technical school in the country are few in number and far from the majority of our people. They alienate the informal or SME sector participants when these technical schools teach formal lessons. There should be a readjustment in things that affect the SME sectors. Otherwise, nothing is going to change unless we up-skill and train our people in special SME oriented school, taking them to the district levels for them to access. Who will be the trainers? Perhaps the education department. (technical/vocational), NDB and DCI to start planning to redirect resources and manpower to the provinces and district levels focusing on SME curriculum in consultation with the provincial administrations.
Bring such trainings to the districts and give them the training and 500-1,000 kina as start up capital instead of NDB with is only accessible by a few.
I concur with the Member. Laws of such will space up business areas for example the small trade grocery industry etc.., (i.e, block clothing stores in Gordons, Erima, eatry stores ) for national SMEs where revenue stream is doing good which is visibly dominated by non-nationals. There is strong buying power of this sector and is generating strong cash flow. Nationals should take this space of the market and the banks will easily provide loans as allocated by the government for this sector. IT will impetus SMEs growth. Monies will remain back in PNG and grow the economy. Non-nationals should have higher level of work and business interest rather than shielding off business opportunities that national can do.
I concur with the Member. Laws of such will space up business areas for example, the small trade grocery industry etc.., (i.e, block clothing stores in Gordons, Erima, eatry stores ) for national SMEs where revenue stream is doing good which is visibly dominated by non-nationals. There is strong buying power of this sector and is generating strong cash flow. Nationals should take this space of the market and the banks will easily provide loans as allocated by the government for this sector. IT will impetus SMEs growth. Monies will remain back in PNG and grow the economy. Non-nationals should have higher level of work and business interest rather than shielding off business opportunities that national can do.
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