Prime Minister Hon. James Marape says his Government has made several deliberate interventions to help small to medium enterprises (SMES) during this time of economic hardship.
He said this when addressing the 3rd SME Business Breakfast at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on Friday (June 25th 2021) which also marked the end of SME Week.
PM Marape said these interventions included:
1. District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) allocated to each district;
2. Provincial Services Improvement Programme (PSIP) to each province;
3. Connect PNG infrastructure development; and
4. K180 million SME funding to Bank South Pacific (BSP, K100 million) and National Development Bank (NDB, K80 million).
“We have, first and foremost, the DSIP and PSIP programmes,” he said.
“DSIP and PSIP is a direct intervention that uplifts a district, wherever they are.”
PM Marape said there was an established procurement system in place, hence, an MP could not just draw down on district or provincial funds.
He said these interventions had resulted in construction of infrastructure in rural areas like the road from Tabubil to Hindenburg Wall in Western, Karamui Road in Chimbu, Siassi Ring Road in Morobe, and all over the country.
“These (contracts) are not run by Chinese, Australian or American companies, these are done by local, little SME-based companies – the
small one, or three machine owners who are out there doing work, employing 50 Papua New Guineans,” PM Marape said.
He said his Government had made a commitment to help SMEs after he took office in 2019, and in 2020, channeled K100 million to BSP and K80 million to BSP.
PM Marape said BSP was rolling out the programme, however, he was “discouraged” by the delays at NDB and would meet its board and management to find out why.
He commended Kina Bank for setting up an SME facility with no Government assistance.
PM Marape thanked all banks for supporting the development of SMEs in the country.