The National Capital District Commission (NCDC), as co- host of the upcoming World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF), has pitched in with K1 million funding support to the Ministry for International Trade and Investments for the hosting of the event. The NCD Governor, Powes Parkop said the WIBF is an important event because of the opportunities it will bring in for the local business owners and entrepreneurs, something that the governor wants to see happen. “We are ready to have a successful World Indigenous Forum, the K1 million basically is to support the opening ceremony,” said Governor Parkop. “We mean business, we’ll do our part to support the government and its efforts. We can’t get the outcome that we want either at the national level, sub- national or local level, if you don’t do the investment, if we don’t put the money; this is a serious national outcome that we must support.” Parkop said the NCDC is supporting this event because of two reasons, one is its significance is assisting the local businesses in the city and the country progress from informal businesses to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), to bigger businesses and enterprises. He said that at a time where small businesses are finding it tough, such a forum will help a lot of businesses excel by learning from the experiences of other, especially from the international community. The other reason behind the NCDC supporting the WIBF, was the potential of it promoting Port Moresby as the capital city and gateway to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Parkop said it’s about promoting “Amazing Port Moresby” to the rest of the world. The WIBF is a major international event second to the APEC Summit. This year is the 13th year of the event and PNG was granted the approval to host it in October in Port Moresby. Over 600 participants are expected to attend, coming in from as far as Canada and the United States of America (USA) and from PNG itself, to engage in dialogues and exposition, share experiences, ideas and make connections. NCDC will also be staging side events, including cultural events, coinciding with the WIBF from the 24th to the 26th of October. The Department of International Trade and Investments will host the WIBF at a cost of K6 million to K7 million.