PM says SMEs key to job generation

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill believes the small-to-medium (SME) sector is the way to achieve greater economic participation and greater employment for young Papua New Guineans. 

He said this during the two-day Papua New Guinea business advantage summit in Port Moresby on Monday.

“I believe strongly that growing our small business sector and medium-sized enterprises is the only way to make a significant impact on unemployment in our community,” O’Neill said.

He said that as the provision of free education up to Year 12, this would mean that more children would attend school and more children remained in school longer. 

As a result, more young men and women will be completing years 10, 11 and 12 and more young people will be seeking employment after studies.

O’Neill said the government’s ambitious programme to grow the SME sector would ease the problem of unemployment among young PNG men and women.

Comparing PNG’s SME sector with other countries, he said PNG needed to improve a lot in creating more opportunities in the small-to-medium enterprises sector.

“I am told our neighbor Indonesia has close to forty million small businesses. We have not much more than 40,000 …  we need to multiply that number and we need to do so quickly,” O’Neill added. 

He said, with the nitiative to boost the SME sector, the government also encouraged the joint ventures and partnerships with existing and potential foreign owned enterprises.   

O’Neill added that the move by the government to give more attention to the SME sector would be challenging.

“I understand the enormity of the challenge, but it is one we cannot afford to fail,”  O’Neill said.