PRIME Minister James Marape launched several development projects worth over K65 million in Goroka on Friday. The main projects include the Nokondi civil works, Rumbia coffee export, Goroka agro project, Eastern Highlands rice and juncao mushroom under the JUNCAO Technology and other road plans in the province. Marape said Eastern Highlands was blessed with the perfect climate for garden crops and coffee that the Government is promoting agriculture as one of its top priorities. “We have millions of people around the world needing food every day, we want to make PNG become an agriculture country to export food crops to countries like China where they have huge population to feed,” he said. Marape acknowledged Eastern Highlands Governor Peter Numu’s initiative to grow the economy through agro-projects that is in line with the Government’s vision to grow the economy and make Papua New Guineans become industrious citizens. He said the Government has made available K200 million in the 2020 budget to be parked in the Bank of South Pacific, Kina Bank and National Development Bank to facilitate low cost borrowings.
PAPUA New Guineans lack exposure to international education standards because they do not have the advice and awareness to meet specific criteria to be eligible for selection, a recent graduate says.
Livingston Fontenu, who graduated with a master of science in global governance from the University of South Wales in United Kingdom last week, said the country had limited exposure globally, especially in terms of searching for and securing scholarships and travelling to the European Union nations, UK or US.
Fontenu said he was looking at forming an association to help address the issue to give Papua New Guineans the opportunity to acquire post graduate tertiary qualifications overseas.
The 27-year-old from Henganofi, Eastern Highlands, was one of the three recipients of Chevening scholarship from Papua New Guinea to study for a master’s degree in UK last year.
The other recipients were Presley Semi, who undertook a master of science in information technology at Lancaster University and Diane Kambanei, who undertook a master of science in global health at the Queen Margaret University in Scotland.
Livingston Fontenu after graduating from the University of South Wales in United Kingdom on Dec 16. He is the only PNG student to graduate from one of the Wales’ most prestigious universities.
The three had the opportunity to meet at Buckingham Palace on May 29, by royal invitation. They were among other leaders and people from all walks of life, all of whom had made a positive impact in their community.
“After a few talks, we realised that PNG has limited exposure globally, especially in terms of searching and securing scholarships to get those high standard education in developed countries,” Fontenu said.
He said it was evident in only three of them being selected to study at prestigious universities.
He said the Chevening Scholarship they applied for was simple and straight forward, including the Commonwealth Scholarships.
However, Fontenu said not everyone was aware of it and the ones that did know did not know how to compile fitting applications and essays to meet the specified criteria.
In 2018, only three Papua New Guineans were selected for the Chevening Scholarship, whereas Indonesia sent 20, Malaysia sent 32, China sent 69 and Mexico sent 106.
Fontenu said something had to be done to address the issue in PNG so that more PNG elites were sent to study to attain globally recognised qualifications and accreditation.
“I had a talk with the British High Commissioner to PNG before we left for studies that we will be forming a PNG-UK students’ alumni when I return to solve this problem and give more opportunities to future students,” he said.
“There were many students who have come through this scholarships and other sponsorships but have gone into hiding when they returned home.
“We will revive this network, put our collective efforts together and support prospective students to come into UK for further studies.”
He said the standard of education in the UK was high with many of the world’s top universities , where eight of the top 10 universities in the world is found.
Fontenu said it was really a challenge for someone such as himself who does not only come from a country where the education standard is below average but also for someone who graduated from an engineering science undergraduate degree to pursue a master’s degree in humanities and political science.
He is excited and praised God for his achievements and is looking forward to come back and serve PNG in any capacity he could, as well as assist in sending students to study in the high standard education systems throughout the world.
IN what started as a hobby during her time as a student at Divine Word University (DWU) in Madang is now a business idea that Jane Sirias has pursued.
About 10 years ago, Sirias developed a hobby of shopping at Kalibobo second-hand clothing in Madang with her friends.
They would shop for outfits for events or nice t-shirts and pairs of jeans for casual wear.
The mother of three is now the proud owner of MeniKala Clothing, registered with Investment Promotion Authority and operating out of Madang.
MeniKala Clothing second-hand in Wewak, East Sepik in 2016.
“I saw the turnover of the stock at second-hand clothing in Madang was very good and thought to myself, why not try it out. That was where the idea of starting and owning a small business began,” she recalled.
“MeniKala Clothing started in August 2016 with the retailing of second-hand clothing and is trading as PNG MeniKala Crafts on Facebook.”
Sirias graduated with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from DWU and has been employed full-time with the DWU ICT Services as an IT support analyst for 10 years.
“I am married with three children, age two, four and six,” she said.
“We reside in Madang and basically do our business online via social media (Facebook page).
From East Sepik, Sirias, 32, said the business name “MeniKala” was derived from her home village Meni in Wewak. ‘Kala’ was added to relate to the different clothing colours.
“We ordered our first A grade clothing bales from Mausgras Pacific Trading Ltd in New South Wales, Australia. We managed to clear our (clothing) bales at Lae port and the shipment went straight to Wewak for sales,” she said.
“We successfully made two shipments and the sales went well until we encountered the challenge of the decreasing kina value in 2017.
“The shipping cost was a real challenge as we were unable to restock.
“The devaluation of currency did not stop our dream of owning a small business as we looked into other marketing opportunities in PNG.
“After a bit of research on what was trending on the market especially in clothing, and art and craft, we found out that a lot of Papua New Guineans today wanted to have a little bit of their tradition incorporated with fashion.
“The market niche for us is to do with art and craft. That is something Papua New Guineans today blend well, with different fashion styles.”
Sirias further noted that in June 2018, the Facebook page, PNG MeniKala Crafts was launched to sell PNG themed items ranging from necklaces, bilums, earrings, blouses, purses and fabrics. “With the aid of technology, we managed to sell our products right across PNG. We took the risk to give it a go and to our surprise, we were able to secure a good number of customers with their requests and orders.
“We have orders every day. We are currently operating from home. Our demand is always high and we try to keep up with our supplies too.
Happy customer Yvonne Karo at Tianjin Eye, Tianjin, China with her purchase of Madang bilum from MeniKala.
“We were privileged to partner with Maku Gifts (another local business operating out of Kokopo, East New Britain) to resell the original ‘wheel tabu’ and ‘crocodile print’ fabrics right across the country. We have customers also from mining towns like Porgera, Tabubil and Lihir with few of our items sold to our customers in Fiji, China and Australia as well.”
Sirias was recently part of a 32-member group of women from throughout the country that graduated after 14 weeks of undergoing the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) online business course. The AWE is a pilot programme in PNG which is also run in East Asia and Pacific region. AWE participants used DreamBuilder, an online course on women’s entrepreneurship developed through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan.
“I have gained the skill set knowledge of creating a business plan including outlining business objectives, refining a prototype, sale and marketing, developing partnerships, securing funding and managing resources,” she said.
“After completing this course, I am now tidying up my financial records which is very important when you want to seek loans or apply for grants and other financial help to keep your business going.
“I am privileged to be part of this pilot project and I humbly thanked the US government for the opportunity given to the Women Entrepreneurs of PNG.”
“It is an ongoing project so I would like to encourage all women who engaged with SME in the country to apply when the applications are open.”
The local business woman further noted that with the aid of the affordable smart phones and data rates and right success habits, business was at her fingertips. “One can have a full-time job and at the same time juggle your business at the comfort of your home.”
Sirias said her faith also played a part in her success by keeping her grounded.
“Last but not the least, always make time to thank our Creator because this is where our wisdom and knowledge comes from. This is where our strength comes from when we are tired in this journey of life. Do your best in whatever you do in life and God will do the rest.”
