APEC Ministers determined that SMEs should be stronger, more resilient

Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 9 October 2009 – APEC Ministers responsible for small and medium enterprises have considered policies and initiatives to increase access of SMEs to global markets.

View their official statement:

http://www.apec.org/apec/ministerial_statements/sectoral_ministerial/small___medium_enterprises/2009_small_and_medium_html.html

View excerpts from the related press conference on You Tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kAc0Sfmf-c

 

For more information, contact:

Carolyn Williams at cdw@apec.org or at (65) 9617 7316

Anita Douglas at ad@apec.org or at (65) 9172 6427

 

Port Moresby's king of affordable housing

Eke Lama (left) supervising building of a new three-bedroom house at Gerehu

Eke Lama watching building of a new three-bedroom house at Gerehu

Eke Lama at his Ta Wanu units at Gerehu

Ta Wanu units at Gerehu

Eke Lama at his new property development at Gerehu

Eke Lama points to where his workmen are cutting up the hillside at Gerehu

Yumi Yet Properties units at Waigani

Eke Lama at one of his leased commercial properties at Waigani

Eke Lama at his second leased commercial property at Waigani

New units being built at Three-Mile

Yumi Yet Properties’ new units under construction at Three-Mile

Eke Lama (second from left) personally supervises concrete pouring at Three-Mile

Leased shop at East Boroko

On a hill at Gerehu Stage Two, which offers panoramic views of Port Moresby’s most-populated suburb, a massive property development over 31 hectares is taking place.
Yumi Yet Properties, owned by Southern Highlands businessman Eke Lama, is cutting up the hillside to build more units which can be afforded by the average Papua New Guinean.
He owns residential and commercial property all over Port Moresby and Mt Hagen.
Mr Lama, for those who came in late, is known in Port Moresby as a man who is making housing affordable to hundreds of Papua New Guineans in Port Moresby, me included.
These are simple, self-contained units, nothing fancy a’la Touguba Hill.
“Currently, we have one-bedroom, two-bedroom and hostel-type rooms,” he says.
“We have 237 units altogether in Port Moresby right now.
“We are renting out to average Papua New Guineans.
“We are not ‘cutting their necks’ by giving them affordable accommodation.
“Our units are at Four-Mile, Waigani and Gerehu.
“Across the board, we are leasing for K600, K700, K800 or K900 per month for a one-bedroom unit.
“Our two-bedroom units are going for K1, 400-K1, 800 per month.
“Three-bedrooms are going for K1, 600-K2, 000.
“These are reasonable rates we are giving to Papua New Guineans.”
As we stand on the hill last Saturday marveling at the view, Mr Lama points out where a proposed new freeway, once the LNG project gets underway, would pass through to Jackson’s Airport.
And yet, this self-made success story never made it past Grade Three, and started off buying and selling coffee cherries
“I went to mission school in 1972,” Mr Lama tells me.
“I finished my Grade Three in 1975.
“My ‘university’ finished there.
“I started my business in 1979 in my village, Wala, in Pangia, Southern Highlands province.
“In 1979, with K200, I started buying cherry coffee at 20t a tin.
“When I sold the coffee, I bought goods from Mt Hagen, which I used to run a trade store in Pangia.
“From those humble beginnings, I started spreading my wings
“I started running trade stores at Wala, one at Pangia station, one at Waigani, one in Mt Hagen and one at East Boroko.
“I was in the coffee-buying and trade store business for 25 years, before going into real estate.”
Mr Lama is a relatively new kid on the lucrative real estate block of Port Moresby, only having been there since 2006, but he is already creating ripples.
“I went into the real estate business in 2006,” he recalls.
“I firstly acquired property at Section 378, Lot 10, Gerehu.
“Then I acquired property at Section 42, Lot 14, Waigani, for commercial purposes as well as Section 41, Lot 35 and Lot 5, Waigani.
“I also have one at Section 16, Lot 35, East Boroko.
“And now, we are working on this land, Portion 2577.
“It’s 31.35 hectares.
“I want to build split-level units on the first 9.5 hectares.
“I’m looking at building 240-250 units.
“On the other 22 hectares, I’m going to put up houses.
“I’m planning to put up the first building by December or January.
“I believe I’m going to finish within two years, between 2010-2011.”
For someone who is 55, Mr Lama shows a lot of energy, as he showed by supervising workmen on his properties at Gerehu, Waigani, Three-Mile where a new block of units is going up, and East Boroko last Saturday.
Recently, when I had a plumbing problem at my unit, he was there to take charge of the whole operation.
“I’m 55 years old but I look young and strong because I work from 7 o’clock in the morning to 7 o’clock at night,” he explains.
“I own the properties.
“I don’t let other people run it.
“When I build a house, I’m the foreman.
“I’m the plumber, mechanic, electrician, carpenter, painter, road builder, bridge builder, a jack-of-all-trades.”
Mr Lama says real estate agents are also to blame for the high rentals in Port Moresby
“I don’t want my property to be managed by real estate agents because they put up the rentals by imposing their own fees,” he says.
“I don’t want my tenants to be affected.
“I look after my properties myself, and I only pay tax to the government.”
Mr Lama has also assisted in infrastructure development in his home province for the church as well as in conjunction with the Southern Highlands provincial government, such as church buildings and schools.
“I wanted to help others back at home.
“My business helps church groups,” he says,
“At Wala, my home village, I’m sponsoring 32 students from Grade 9 to university.
“I want to be an example for Papua New Guineans.
“I seriously want to tell Papua New Guineans not to sell out land in Port Moresby or elsewhere.
“Do not be lazy.
“If you want to be a businessman, you have to commit yourself first, and then put your money in.
“If you want to sell buai, cigarettes, run a tradestore, anything, put yourself in first.
“Then put your money in.
“Look after the business like a baby and it will grow.
“When the business starts to grow, there is no looking back from there.
“When you make money, don’t play around with it.”
Mr Lama says the real estate business is a pot of gold, especially with the LNG project coming on stream.
“Real estate business right now is very good,” he added.
“I want to retire after I have completed 300 new units, and when I own 500 units all over Port Moresby.”

Mr Lama can be contacted on telephone 3236979 or mobiles 6920757 and 72200653.

Weathering the eye of the storm: a book review

Cover of Through The Eye of The Storm, by Dr Limbie Kelly Kelegai

A powerful new book Through the Eye of the Storm by Dr Limbie Kelly Kelegai tells of how he overcame being a quadriplegic to achieve his dreams.
Dr Kelegai, from Ialibu, Southern Highlands province, sustained a spinal injury in 1980 in a rugby league accident in Lae and became a quadriplegic while studying at the University of Technology.
On the night of Sept 22, 2005, Dr Kelegai received his PhD in information technology from the vice chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
His two sons were on either side proudly groomed in their traditional Ialibuan attire.
The rest of his family was very close in the rows soaking the accolade with pride and joy - it was a momentous evening.
This was the pinnacle in Dr Kelegai’s career.
This is the story of how this young man lived through trauma with hope to achieve his dreams: never giving up regardless of the enormity of the trauma.
It is a love story of how he met his wife Rose, a nurse at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, and how she stuck with him through good and bad times,
In these times, this book reminds us of the values we have lost: self-worth, self-belief, courage in the face of adversity and the power of hope.
It is a celebration of our heritage and our people and is a much-needed source of inspiration to instil hope in the hearts of many throughout this country.
If ever there was a perfect example of the power of human spirit and of love, this is it.
It is the extraordinary journey of an ordinary person who refused to succumb to negativity and hopelessness and allowed God to take control in every aspect of his life.
This book is a demonstration of the strength of positive thinking and has been highly recommended by notable members of society including Governor General Sir Paulias Matane and managing director of PNG Sustainable Development Program David Sode as a must-read for everyone.
“I have read dozens of books in recent years but have not read anything like Dr Limbie Kelegai’s most impressive and positive life story,” Sir Paulias says.
“Limbie does not accept difficulties.
“In fact, he converts difficulties, negative to positive thoughts and actions.
“He believes that nothing in the world is impossible to achieve.
“To him, words like impossibility, can’t or difficulty are not in his vocabulary and actions.
“To know more about this positive thinker and performer, we must read this book, which I now recommend to the Department of Education to buy copies of and distribute to all schools in PNG.
“I want to see our young people learn from Dr Kelegai’s examples to change them to be positive in life and actions.”
Mr Sode said Dr Kelegai and has family had been on an amazing journey through life.
“This is a story of an ordinary young man with an extraordinary twist in life: born free, reaching for his dreams and then, his world was turned upside down,” he said.
“Limbie starkly reminds us that life can shift you into reverse gear without notice.
“In a matter of seconds he was transformed from a healthy, promising, energetic young man to a quadriplegic in a football accident in Lae on Mar 9, 1980.
“As you read this book, you can’t help but enter with Limbie into the fellowship of the dark room of despair, pain, broken heartedness, shattered dreams and a crashed life – inconceivable, leaving the option of death as a very valuable and sweet relief.
“But you will also feel the triumph as he defiantly clung on to life determined to live. “And amazingly he struggled on, overcoming scores of obstacles, and in the midst of this turmoil found amazing love, and against all odds persevered to, remarkably, achieve his dreams.”
Dr Kelegai writes: “By the time I reached 18, I had lived my life.
“It was all but over.
“And the events that followed were like nothing I had imagined.
“I offer my personal story in the hope that it helps others elegantly clear hurdles of aloneness, grief and fear far faster than I did.
“I hope it encourages those enduring life’s challenges and who are in dire need for a ray of hope – you are not alone.
“And for others it might perhaps enlighten their hearts to appreciate the passing moments and value life a little more.
“It is by far the toughest thesis I have tackled.”
Dr Kelegai was born in 1961 in Yamex village, Ialibu, began his primary school education at the Lutheran Mission Primary School in 1968 and completed Grade Six in 1973.
In 1974, he attended Ialibu High School and completed his Grade 10 in 1977.
He then undertook mechanical engineering studies Unitech 1978.
On Mar 9, 1980, Dr Kelegai had a football accident and sustained a spinal injury.
He became a quadriplegic.
He was then undertaking his third year of studies at Unitech.
After a year-long rehabilitation at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, he returned to PNG.
Despite his disability Dr Kelegai enrolled for an undergraduate programme in computer studies at Unitech in 1981.
At the end of 1983, Dr Kelegai graduated with a bachelor of technology in computing.
On August 1, 1980, Dr Kelegai married his sweetheart, Rose.
They have six children.
He began his career with Unitech in 1984 and was with Unitech until his resignation in 2007.
In 1994, Dr Kelegai studied for his post-graduate masters in information technology, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
He successfully completed the studies in 1995 and was awarded his masters degree.
In 2000, Dr Kelegai studied for his PhD in information technology at the QUT.
He submitted his thesis in mid 2005 and after successfully completing the programme,
he was awarded his doctor of philosophy by QUT.
Dr Kelegai and his family are currently residing in Brisbane, Australia.The book is on sale for A$39.95 from publisher L’Ora International, P.O Box 1702, Capalaba, DC, Q4157, Queensland, Australia, telephone (617) 449221775, email info@lorainternational.com and website http://www.loranternational.com/

Tsunami madness

We didn't get paid today because ANZ Bank Harbour City closed down because they thought they were going to be washed away by the tsunami.

This is an urban legend at its best!

Groan!

More power to our Papua New Guinea farmers

If you go around to our major supermarkets to Port Moresby, you'll notice that, unlike previous years, there are more and more locally-produced vegetables.
Kudos to the supermarkets for this, and you can do your bit to support Papua New Guinea-grown, by buying our local vegetables such as potatoes, onions, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, strawberries, and the list goes on and on.
Picture as left is my five-year-old daughter, Moasing, at the Stop n Shop Supermarket in Gerehu this morning against the backdrop of local vegetables.
More power to our farmers!

Sunset over Port Moresby

I caught this sunset over Port Moresby as I was walking back from RH Hypermart at Gordons to my newspaper office at The National.
Grealy uplifting to see the last rays of sunshine spilling all over the capital city of Papua New Guinea.

Much ado about a nothing tsunami!

Widespread pandemonium in Port Moresby today that a tsunami will strike!
Much ado about nothing and it's all an urban legend!
Please get back to work!
Papua New Guinea needs this more than panic-stricken people running around like headless chooks!