The Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (VCCI) organised a 4-day ‘Mentoring Micro Small Medium Enterprises’ workshop for public servants and private business in Port
The workshop was attended by Provincial Officers from the Departments of Tourism, Cooperatives, and Industry, along with selected private business owners.
The objective of the workshop was to build capacity that supports the development of business management and technical skills, as well as encourage Ni Vanuatu businesses to develop their ideas and start to diversify their ideas to strengthen their business initiatives.
To encourage partnership and cooperation each provincially based officer was requested to nominate an MSME representative who was invited to join their government counterparts to also be trained in mentoring, product innovation and product quality.
A total of 32 participants attended the workshop facilitated by consultant Mereana Mills and VCCI’s Business Resilience Training Officer Irene Titek. A range of talented local presenters including Kalowie Robert, Anthea Arnhambat Liu and Emily Tumukon were invited to lead the participants in sessions specific to their fields of profession which inspired both entrepreneurs and Provincial Officers alike.
Participants also got the chance to hear from VCCI Council Member Toara Karie, owner of Belair Airways Vanuatu Ltd, of his experiences and the importance of compliance when running a business. As a local business owner Toara shared that his initial feelings of being audited for civil aviation compliance was frightening but after his first audit he embraced the process as a learning opportunity for him and his team.
His message to the participants was to ensure you do regular compliance checks throughout the year so that the audit process becomes easier, and that the compliance process should not be something to be afraid of.
Participants have come to an understanding on how they can work together to use what they have learnt to improve their relationships and encourage growth of the MSMEs in their communities.
VCCI also encouraged participants to continue to work together because they all contribute to the common goals in the National Sustainable Development Plan.
Photo supplied Caption: VCCI Council Member Toara Karie owner of Belair Airways Vanuatu LTD during the training in Port Vila.