Nabilah S
Acting Commerce Minister Soroi Eoe handed over K40 million to Minister of State Enterprise William Duma yesterday to finance the National Development Bank’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Grant Facility. .
Acting Minister Eoe said, “This is a promise we made to our people and a way to ensure that both of our partner banks keep lending to our people, which helps our SMEs grow.” We’re glad this policy has helped many Papua New Guinean business people reach their goals and improve their lives.
Minister Duma also spoke at the presentation. He said the K40 million is the government’s funding for 2022 to keep the MSME Grant Facility with NDB going.
Duma praised the NDB for getting the first K80 million in 2020 to more than 700 small and medium-sized businesses nationwide. The minister also said that the money went to various industries, such as transportation, agriculture, tourism, retail, equipment, food, consulting, and legal services.
He thanked the NDB Board and management for handling and giving out the K80 million correctly, and he is sure that NDB will do the same with the K40 million given to him today.
Late in 2020, NDB got the K80 million, and in November 2021, it started giving out MEME loans at 4%, which was a huge success.
People in Papua New Guinea are starting businesses or growing them, which is touching and saving the lives of regular people,” Duma said.
Acting Minister Eoe went on to say, “I know that many of our SMEs, informal businesses, and market mothers still have trouble getting the money they need to keep their businesses going, grow their sales, or put their sales in the bank, but this program is helping.”
Eoe says that this financial support program needs to grow, so training, mentoring, and access to money as a one-stop program for PNG people to access and support their businesses is important and will be added to the program.
