Speaking to 60 vendors who will be participating in the first NCD SME Expo at the City Hall today in Port Moresby, Governor Hon. Powes Parkop said through his NCD SME Service Centre, his government would do its bit to close the gap between foreign and local business ownership in the country.
He said the net foreign assets were negative, flagging the need for locals to expand into other industries dominated by foreigners other than being restricted to ‘tucker box, betel nut and daka (mustard)’ sales.
Governor Parkop said SME was not a new concept and that it needed tangible actions by all levels of government.
He clarified that financial support by his government through the Service Centre had three products that are customized to assist female-owned SMEs.
The first, he said, is the Revolving Fund Initiative meant for assisting individuals with start-up capital which is to be repaid to help fellow female SME owners.
The second is Incentive Top-up where SME performance will be tracked and if successful, 100 percent top-up will be made on the amount of funds saved.
The last one is NCD SME Fair, a platform for vendors to sell their products.
The first expo will be held at the public space outside Department of Works Headquarters at 4-Mile.
Garden Hills based vendors today went through a pre-expo orientation information and training session, giving them a feel of what it is like and how it will be for them to participate in the SME Fair.
The pre-expo orientation was aimed at identifying and providing good customer service, positive mind-sets, cleanliness, healthy & hygiene, and also follow the Covid-19 protocols to allow normal operation of business to support them financially in this time of pandemic.
The training was facilitated by representatives from the City Pharmacy Limited, National Department of Health, NCD SME Service Centre, and NCDC Markets.
