Panel to Formulate Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SME) Plan and Policy

PORT MORESBY - The Government has created a steering committee to formulate a policy and master plan for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Trade, Commerce and Industry Ministrer Richard Maru said last Friday the appointment of the committee followed the Government’s key policy and strategy interventions to create a business environment to promote the development of a sustainable and competitive SME sector.

Maru said the SME policy and master plan would be formulated through a process of regional consultation by the steering committee.

“It would be a homegrown plan and everyone must have an input through the regional consultations that would be carried out by the committee.

“The master plan will have plans for each respective province on how to grow the local provincial SME sector,” he said.

The minister appealed to key stakeholders to participate in the regional consultations to carry this out.
Maru said the committee would be headed by Trade, Commerce and Industry Secretary John Andrias as chairman and his deputy Henry Marasembi would be the acting managing director of the Small Business Development Corporation.

Other members were: Simon Tosali (Secretary for Treasury); Monica Lopyui (first assistant secretary, National Planning Department), Rosemary Isicar (National Planning); Trevor Cain (executive manager lending, National Development Bank); Wallis Yakam (executive manager, Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council); Osborne Sanida (research fellow, National Research Institute); Sweta Sud (executive director, Institute of Banking and Business Management); David Freedman (private sector development coordinator, Asian Development Bank); Tony Keket (director policy alignment  and budget analysis, Office of Vision 2050); Alex Tongayu (Registrar of Companies, Investment Promotion Authority) and Hubert Namani (general  secretary, PNG Indigenous Council).

Consultation workshops for Highlands and Momase regions will be held in Madang on Sep 9-10 and NGI and Southern regions on Sept  12-13, also in Madang. There will also be a national consultative workshop held in Port Moresby on Sep 18-20. [TheNational]