By Golok Nanmwa ,Jos

Plateau state Bureau of Public Procurement in conjunction with the state Micro Finance Development Agency PLASMIDA ) on Thursday trained over 200 Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SMEs) owners in Jos on how to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on their bussiness .

Director General of the state Bureau of Public agency Peter Dogo said the programme is also to support the economy developmental plans of the
Plateau state Government .

He said the COVID 19 Pandemic has globally affected the socio economic life of the entire world .

“The lockdown has opened up the new normal in doing business ,this has necessitated the downward review to the budget due to the fall in Oil prices and taxes .
” The Plateau state Bureau of Public Procurement is the regulatory body that sets out guidelines and regulations to Public Procurement , the Small and Medium Enterprises is worst hit by the lockdown and constitute a large proportions of employer or labour .

He said that Governor Simon Lalong has approved two guidelines on the conduct of Public Procurement activities by Ministries ,departments and agencies during COVID 19 and other related emergencies ,also guidelines to facilitate the participation of SME’s in Public Procurement leading to the award of contracts .
” This workshop provides a platform to educate the SME’s on the techniques required to submit and win contracts .

He further said that Myriad of SME’s at the database of Plateau state Microfinance Development Agency should take advantage of these guidelines to enhance their participation in Public procurement activities in the state .

The DG further said that the workshop centered on the Plateau state Public procurement Law 2018 and highlight of the guidelines with emphasis on how to seek for clarifications ,debriefing and complaints mechanism .

He said that the training would also address major macro-level issues specifically in the areas of re-igniting the economy and driving digital inclusion for SMEs.

It will also help SMEs relearn, rethink and retool their businesses for growth in the emerging digital economy.

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COVID-19 – Plateau trains SMEs on ways to boost sales