CPL Group is currently looking to expand its footprint in the country with plans to open more branches across the country. CPL Head of Pharmacy Mr. Pradee Panda said that CPL Group has a lot of plans to expand now as they signed a MoU with Kerema in Gulf province a couple of months ago and they are looking at the Western Province as well because they do not have any footprint there. Mr. Panda said that they might go and open a few more stores in Bougainville as well to increase their presence and provide affordable services to the people. “We are looking at a lot of places around the country because we want to bring more healthcare services to the people by opening more pharmacies. Apart from expanding our reach, CPL Group is also a big supporter and promoter of local Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) products. We have partnered with a lot of SMEs where we get their products and put them inside City Pharmacy right across the country for them to take advantage of getting more sales. For CPL to assist a local SME sell its product (health) first thing we look for is the quality of the product, quality certification if they have one, which is essential for us, second thing we look at the quality of the packaging and third thing is the pricing,” Mr. Panda said. He added that while it is the SMEs responsibility for developing the product, CPL helps the local SME in terms of product designing, packaging design and also product marketing strategy. “Our operation team and CPL Foundation work closely with the local SMEs to guide them on the basic principles of how to develop a good quality product and marketing of the product,” he said.