By Lindy Suharupa
A total of eight million kina will be allocated to roll-out the Constituency Economic Investment Program.
This is part of the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s (ABG) Economic Independence readiness plan.
These monies will be allocated under the ABG’s Economic Sector program to benefit the thirty-three constituencies in the region.
This was announced in a statement by the Minister responsible for Commerce, Trade and Economic Development in the ABG Government, Honourable Patrick Nisira.
Each constituency in Bougainville will receive a grant of K200, 000 per economic project.
The lead applicants of this program will be the Ministers of the House of Representatives, the president, speaker of the house, three regional women’s representatives, three Regional former Combatant Representatives, and the thirty-three Constituency Members working in collaboration with the Chairs of their respective Community Governments.
“I believe this program will be a great opportunity to support our local institutions and grassroots people to improve their ability to raise their own internal revenue and practice self-reliance, through their business ventures,” said Minister Nisira
This program has the potential to contribute to the growth of primary industries and other economic activities in Bougainville and ultimately improve the economic environment.
Applicants to this program from the constituencies must demonstrate to own cooperatives or are engaged in SMEs and must be registered with IPA.
The business concept that will be included in the program will include small scale downstream processing of commodities, food security projects, whole sale of basic store goods and other businesses like tourism and hospitality, in the region.
Members of the AROB Economic Investment Program will be made up of five economic sector departments including treasury and finance and Bougainville tax Office.
The outcome of this program is expected to support the aspirations of the ABG Government for Greater Economic Growth and Control in empowering indigenous businesses.
Applications and guidelines can be collected from the Department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Development.
All the completed applications to access the funding facility must be addressed to the Chairman of the Constituency Economic Development Program Steering Committee (CEDPSC), Mr Alex Kerangpuna, who is the Secretary for the Department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Development in the ABG.
“In the future, I may introduce an annual award for the top performing Cooperatives or SMEs that utilize the seed funding provided under the program to create successful businesses,” said Mr Nisira.
