The National Department of Commerce and Industry, working with the East New Britain (ENB) Provincial Commerce Division, has offered a two-week training program in Kokopo to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) find money and learn about market information. Mr. Jerry Marai, the lead trainer, said, “We were tasked by the government to provide the training to 30, 000 SMEs throughout the country for the next 10 years.” “For each year, we have to cover about 500 SMEs and we did that last year by covering seven provinces and training about 560 SMEs.” According to Mr. Marai, the training first started in 2020; however, it came to a halt when COVID-19 plagued the country. For East New Britain, that training commenced Monday, July 15th in Kokopo, focusing on SME market and finance access information, and will continue for two weeks. About 60 businesses in Kokopo signed up, each paying a registration fee of K100. On Monday, July 22nd, the training will move to Rabaul to cater to the SMEs in Rabaul and the Gazelle districts. Marai also shared that the government has put a lot of money into banks to help SMEs. "K100 million is with the Bank of South Pacific, and K17 million is with the National Development Bank.” “These banks will join us to explain how SMEs can get these funds," he said. ENB Provincial Administrator Levi Mano told participants to be independent and careful with their businesses. He said that the ENB Provincial Government has given K2 million each to two local banks, Kada Poroman Microfinance Limited and ENB Savings and Loans Ltd, to support local businesses. “Your money is there for you to use, and this course is relevant because you will learn how to access all of these funds." "Concentrate on what you can do and control, so that you can be successful,” he said. Mano further praised the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for bringing this important training to Kokopo and Rabaul, helping local SMEs get the support they need to succeed.