Pacific Trade Invest Australia has assisted 109 firms in PNG, 47 of which are managed or controlled by women, facilitating K2 million in exports and K45,519 (A$17,120) in investment transactions.
This was just reported in the Pacific Trade Invest annual report 2020.
Caleb Jarvis, PTI Australia's Trade and Investment Commissioner, stated in the annual report:
“Within a week, we reconfigured our programs across trade, investment, tourism and labour mobility to virtual and hybrid formats, finding new ways to help businesses – like access to digital resources.
“Collaborating with our global PTI network and 25 partners then allowed us to deliver $20.04 million in exports and $2.73m in investments.
“We’ve fostered private sector sales to the Australian market and helped drive inter-regional trade, and initiatives like our Impact Support Program have provided businesses with the tools they need to adapt, maintain and expand their operations.
“In a year where COVID-19 closed international borders, interrupted trade routes and caused devastating financial effects on the people and economies of the Blue Pacific, we pivoted to support 582 businesses across 16 countries in 2020, almost one-third of which were women-led businesses.”
In a session with journalists covering the COVID-19 economy, Jarvis revealed that according to the May 2021 Pacific Business Monitor, women are having a harder time than men, with 56 per cent of female businesses reporting barriers that prevent them from implementing initiatives to support their businesses, compared to 47 per cent of male businesses.
Businesses are surviving by decreasing operating expenses and working hours, according to him, while 50% of companies are establishing new income sources.
“We’ve also worked in the creative industry space for a lot of years.
My passion project has been helping to export bilum from PNG to international markets because we know generating a little bit of income goes a very long way for some of those women and they are women in need as well.
“I’m thankful to the international distributors that we’ve been working with throughout Covid-19 as they have continued to buy a lot of bilum, in particular, that‘s the one that I’m closest to,” he said.
PTI has partnered with three worldwide distributors to offer PNG bilums in Australia: Among equals, Bilum & Bilas, and Real Impact.
“Importantly we’ve learnt that the impact on each country and on each business was different and unique.
And as someone said to me, whilst the Pacific was all caught up in the same storm, each country was trapped in its own unique boat.
Pacific island people have been extremely resilient by relying heavily on their families and communities and there is a strong need for further diversification and especially for those countries and communities that rely heavily on tourism.”
Reference:
Yafoi, Melisha. Post-Courier (7 July 2021). “PNG Business Exports Aided By PTI Earn K2M”.
