Sector needs govt backing

LEADERS, bureaucrats and people in positions of power were reminded not to forget the hard work and challenges mothers went through in the informal sector to set the foundation for them to succeed and prosper in life.
Informal Sector Association president Sana Dokapa said many educated people today would have benefited from the informal sector through support from their parents or relatives who sold products and goods.
Dokapa’s association is based at Gordon market in Port Moresby,
She made the comments during the launch of the National Economy Audit Report in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
“We take the perception of informal economy as something illegal or not worthy,” Dokapa said.
“But the truth is that informal economy is the backbone of the country that supports more than 80 per cent of our people.
“It is the sector that the country rests on because most of our people depended on the informal economy for their daily livelihoods,” she said.
“It is the sector that employs, feeds and sustains most of our people, including people involved in the formal economy.”
Dokapa said one of the main challenges was access to markets for vendors.
“In every town and city, access to markets for farmers and vendors in the informal economy has always been a huge challenge,” she said.
“There is no reason why leaders and people in power cannot support informal economy because at some point in time. You were once raised by a hardworking mother and father who were able to overcome the challenges in the informal economy to pay for your school fees, bus fares and met your needs to give you education and set the foundation and the pathway for you to prosper.”
She reminded the country’s leaders and policy planners that the majority of the population depend on the informal sector and they deserved support to improve their lives.
Dokopa said a connection between the informal and formal economy needed to be established in order for everyone to prosper.
Government officials, who attended the launch, including Deputy Prime Minister Davis Steven, admitted that the informal economy was the country’s foundation and required adequate state support and interventions.