Martha Taumata Faavae
The Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour, MCIL, has stayed loyal to its commitment to registered members of the Private Sector Organisations, PSO, by splitting quarter of a million tala on them.
The funding allocation has continued into the difficult times with the COVID-19 pandemic severely eroding national economies with its global reach.
The Minister of Commerce Industry and Labour, Lautafi Selafi Purcell, handed out cheques to each of the 12 PSO representatives in a short presentation at the start of last week.
“Cabinet was sceptical about the value of the benefits from the funding so it was not easy winning approval for it,” Lautafi impressed on the recipients.
“ But during these challenging times where COVID – 19 has severely affected the world economy, the PSO grant support is crucial.”
The Minister admitted during the presentation that this has been a very challenging year for registered PSO members.
“This is the 5th allocation of annual funding to help out with administration costs and this is the first year when reports filtering from members into their respective organisations of set development targets not met,” the Minister said.
“I can understand that the main reason is the depletion in the workforce and the extension to the business in general.
This is why it was a struggle to win Cabinet approval for the funding to continue after the lack of proper reporting from each business operation.”
Lautafi impressed on the PSO representatives that they must continue to put in the effort to meet the set criteria for the grant to continue.
He also added that Government will review the whole grant programme for the PSO next year with a view towards more effective options and applications.
The eligible organisations are those with commercial affiliation and are registered with MCIL under the Incorporated Societies legislation.
There are set criteria and a number of factors to be considered in determining the amount of grant to be awarded to each organisation, such as registered membership established office, and most importantly the submission of audited financial accounts and strategic plans as well as progress of development projects.
The grants were allocated as follows:
Samoa Chamber of Commerce incorporated $50,000. Women in Business Development Incorporated $45,000. Samoa Association of Manufactures and Exporters Incorporated $40,000. Samoa Hotels Association Inc. $35,000. Business of Salafai Association Inc. $20,0000. Samoa Federated Farmers Incorporated $12,000 Savaii Samoa Tourism Association Inc. $12,000. Small Business Association of Samoa Arts &Handicrafts Incorporated $10,000. Samoa Banana Farmers Associations Inc. $9000. Samoa Mamanu Designs & Manufactures Association $7000. Samoa Farmers Association Inc. $6000. Tautai Samoa Association Incorporated $4000.