Photo credit: PNG Women Entrepreneurs Connect Facebook Page
Papua New Guinea Women Entrepreneurs Connect, whose objective is to empower and motivate women to be successful in business, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PNGX Markets, the PNG Digital ICT Cluster, Emerging Venture Management (Unkapt) and Pacific Capital Markets Development - together the proponents of the DEFINE Initiative. The MOU outlines areas of cooperation to deliver several DEFINE objectives, including facilitating technical assistance for micro, small and medium women-led enterprises and enhancing the capabilities of human capital in the women-led entrepreneurial sector.
One key objective of the DEFINE Initiative is to expand access to banking and financial services for all, particularly women and the vulnerable, and their integration into value chains and markets. Another is to enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
With over 5,000 members, PNGWEC is ideally placed to join with the DEFINE Initiative to deliver on these and other objectives.
“We are very pleased to be an integral partner with this DEFINE Initiative. This is a very strategic partnership as PNGWEC endeavor to promote, facilitate and progress the agenda of economic empowerment of Women in Papua New Guinea. This initiative gives PNGWEC members and all other Women Entrepreneurs an opportunity to expand and build their businesses. Most Women MSMEs have concentrated their operations locally, and this partnership opens the opportunity to accelerate and boost the Women MSMEs into trading and exporting Internationally. Assessment and capacity building will be accorded to the matured organizations who have a sizeable turnover, are profitable and have employees. We are excited and looking forward to working in collaboration with our partners to achieve our objectives.” said PNGWEC Chairwoman Ms Esther Igo.
“PNGWEC is an important partner for the development of the DEFINE Initiative and reach out to entrepreneurial women, especially in the MSME sector” said PNGX Chairman Mr David Lawrence. “It presents an ideal opportunity to provide business, financial and technology skills training to this important part of the PNG economy. We hope that many members of PNGWEC will be participants in a new business skills program for women which the DEFINE Initiative is developing with the assistance of the UNCDF as announced last week.”
“The relationship with PNGWEC also fits well with the MOU we have with Mama Bank. PNGWEC’s interest to explore artificial intelligence solutions to improve women’s access to finance ideally aligns with the interests of the DEFINE initiative and Mama Bank” said Mr Lawrence.
Article courtesy of PNGX
