Promoting Pacific enterprise

Online guru James Kemp speaks at a training workshop. Kemp will be leading Grow Pacific, a workshop to give Pacific businesses the skills to succeed in a global marketplace. Photo / Supplied

With Fiji as a picturesque meeting point, businesses from 11 Pacific Island nations will participate in the Grow Pacific ICT, training online marketing and social media workshop November 23 to 24 led by GrowthHQ Director and online guru James Kemp.

The programme, pioneered by Pacific Corporation Foundation (PCF), aims to promote economic sustainability in the region through entrepreneurship, social media, business development and relationships among mentors and businesses.

Small businesses in the region are often constrained in ways larger corporations are not, which prevents them from competing in the global market.

"The digital divide for many small businesses is really growing between what the big guys can do and what undeveloped nations can do," says Kemp. "They're constrained by connectivity; they're constrained by knowledge. They just don't know what's possible."

Yet Kemp says that through training and support businesses can learn how to sell their products not just to local communities but to a global market. From there they can develop strong revenue streams.

The pilot program in Fiji is aptly named "Train the Trainer" for its goal to empower business owners to take the skills they learn and impart them on other businesses in their communities.

"It's one thing having the knowledge, but businesses have to know how to apply it and get the support of their communities," says Kemp.

PCF is a not for profit organization funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among other donors and supporters in the private sector. The organisation aims to promote economic growth in the Pacific.

Grow Pacific spurred from a session held in Auckland in April with 16 businesses to look at how they interact with customers through social media, email and other digital channels.

PCF was inspired to broaden the workshop's reach into the Pacific region and have directed the gathering of funds and personnel to support the workshop.

"PCF focuses on the grassroots, real, tangible benefits to individuals and communities which is really important," said Kemp.

After training, the businesses involved will have access to a private Facebook group where they can continue to network, access resources and seek advice from Kemp and his team.

Businesses apply to the workshop through their local chambers of commerce with the help of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) which acts as a communication point between local economies of diverse Pacific nations. The chambers will select businesses based on criteria for the workshop.

Kemp says it's vital for small businesses in the Pacific region to continue to grow and expand into the global market so their local and national economies can compete internationally.

"We're competing in the global marketplace now," says Kemp. "We're not competing with the guy around the corner. We're competing with the guy on the other side of the world. If businesses don't get the skills, the knowledge and the confidence to compete, they'll fall behind the people who do."

For more information visit www.growthhq.co.nz.

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