Reforms help women get into business

EFFORTS by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to promote the private sector in the Pacific through the co-financed private sector development initiative (PSDI) have eased the way of doing business in the region.
These reforms are helping women get into business with ease, especially in registering formal businesses at lower cost.
Reforms are also boosting women’s access to financial services by expanding existing microfinance institutions into remote areas of Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
In PNG, PSDI assisted Nationwide Microbank develop an innovative mobile phone-linked bank account, MiCash.
These efforts are modernising outdated business laws, improving access to financial services, enhancing economic opportunities for women and improving the efficiency of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a new ADB report said.
The fifth annual PSDI progress report documents PSDI activities and results since the programme began.
The PSDI, established by ADB in 2006 with co-financing from AusAID, is a regional facility that assists 14 Pacific island economies with reforms to remove the constraints to doing business in the Pacific.
PSDI’s flexible structure enables it to respond quickly when a reform opportunity arises, while also remaining focused on long-term support.
“As PSDI continues to evolve and move into phase three and year seven in 2013, growing demand on its financial and personnel resources are presenting increasing challenges,” Andrea Iffland, regional director of ADB’s Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office in Sydney, said.
 “We look forward to working with Pacific governments and the private sector to further promote private sector oriented reform in close coordination with AusAID and other development partners.”
PSDI helped modernise business laws (companies and secured transactions acts) in eight Pacific island countries.
PSDI assisted these countries with installing and maintaining electronic registries subsequent to the passage of modernised laws.
In Solomon Islands, ADB assistance in these reforms, has led to increased lending and much faster loan approvals. It is now possible to register a business online in no more than two days.