Photo Credit: Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion Facebook Page
The Department of Community Development and Religion's Informal Economy Section recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Center of Excellence and Financial Inclusion (CEFI) that will provide a new collaboration pathway for training and education of Informal businesses and vendors in order to help them graduate and grow into the SME Sector.
The cooperation agreement signed by interim Department Secretary Jerry Ubase and CEFI Executive Director Saliya Ranasinghe would pave the way for joint efforts in providing individuals with Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion Training through the District Community Development Centre (DCDC).
Ubase praised CEFI's work with the department on behalf of Minister Wake Goi, and spoke about how the relationship will benefit the lives of participants in the Informal Economic Corridors.
“My department recognises and embraces partnership and collaboration in delivering protection and empowerment services to people.
“This MoU signing is yet another milestone to assist the government of the day to achieve its vision of growing the economy through informal business and SME.
“As a responsible government department, we will continue to create dialogue and partnership with stakeholders such as CEFI to create an enabling environment for people in the informal economy to access necessary services,” Ubase said.
Warren Marape, Acting Deputy Secretary, Community Development Division, described the MOU signing as a big step forward for the Department in addressing the country's financial literacy needs.
“The participants in the informal economy are in a dire need of this service so they can venture into SME.
“And we will make sure to deliver this significant program at the DCDC beginning with Imbonggu after the official opening on September 17, 2021.
Saliya Ranasinghe, CEFI's Executive Director, commended the department for partnering with them (CEFI).
“The diverse setup of financial institutions is meant for people to partner with and everyone has to patronise that.
“To do that, Financial Literacy is the first step to moving towards your financial goals and direction.
“We are looking forward to working closely with the department to push the goal of transiting the participants at the informal sector into the formal sector,” Saliya said.
Representatives from the North Fly District Development Authority, the Imbonggu District Development Authority, the media, department officials, and CEFI were present during the signing of the MoU at Sambra Haus in Port Moresby.
Reference:
Salmang, Grace Auka. Post-Courier (7 July 2021). “MOU by CEFI And Department To Boost Informal Sector”.
