Some businesses fine

A FEW businesses and product lines are actually performing well during the crisis, internationally and, potentially, in Papua New Guinea, says an economist.
Institute of National Affairs director Paul Barker said these included businesses or products catering specifically for activities conducted at home, during the extended lockdown, or supporting health service delivery.
“For example, overseas, it’s been found that apart from various private health product/service providers, many businesses catering for home business, catering and recreation have been doing well,” he said.
Barker said businesses such as communications providers, games providers, home exercise and even some outdoor exercise providers (eg some bicycle shops in Australia), flour millers and others catering for households had more time to bake bread and cakes and cook at home, but clearly most businesses have been mildly to severely handicapped by the coronavirus.
Barker said these were some of the lessons that small and medium enterprises in PNG could look at.
“Some have modified their businesses, such as restaurants diverting to online or home food deliveries and other innovations,” he said.
“In PNG, producers of some products that have fared better, like alluvial/colluvial gold miners (with the high gold price), will have also fared well, but most commodities have seen a mild to severe price fall, including vegetable oils, vanilla and some other agricultural products and their producers, processors and traders will have suffered from that downturn, as well as from the official barriers that some have experienced in trading.”
Barker said the coronavirus pandemic impact was tough on micro and small to medium enterprises right now.