Allow Melanesian Women to Own and Run E-commerce Business from their Homes

Thank you for visiting this campaign.

My name is Wewo Kotokay, founder and Director of PAPUAmart.com LTD., a local company established in Papua New Guinea. I'm representing MELANESIAmart.com, GoMELANESIA.com, WANTOKzon.com, WANTOKExpress.com and CHEAPHosts.us as my company’s products as online and offline Store, as Online and Offline Marketplace, and as Online and Offline Retailer Company. We pioneer e-Commerce Centre for online trade, cashless transactions and barter centre for Melanesian products that particularly dedicated to accommodate women from Melanesian archipelago to own and run their own e-commerce business from their own homes (home villages or home islands).

My start-up company’s products with various business names are allocated mainly for Melanesian Women to own and run businesses by themselves, by employing their own family members and relatives as their paid employees, directly from where they are, instantly using their smart phones and computers.

Melanesian Context

You'll agree with me that online shopping is growing rapidly mainly because it helps buyers and sellers increase the speed of transactions, the costs of doing businesses and convenience.

With the geographical condition across Melanesian archipelago with isolated and disintegrated islands and villages with poor communication and transportation facilities in place so far, Melanesians are forced to initiate appropriate approach utilizing available facilities and technologies in order to run businesses, trade and generate income.

Moreover, socio-cultural diversity with different languages, traditions and ways of doing things across Melanesian people also divides each person in each village and island. The only tool today to connect and unite us quickly as a people and with minimum cost is the Internet.

In this post modern era, with the Internet Technology as the icon of our civilization, geographical and socio-cultural boundaries, divisions, limitations and shortages should no longer become the obstacles in doing business. We are challenged to go through and reach beyond our limitations and shortages in order to survive in this globalized economy.

Allowing Melanesian women to own and fully run their own businesses will ensure Melanesian economy to grow at steady pace and with strong foundation. Such an approach will also prevent various social, cultural and ethical side-effects that normally created when men are running the businesses and controlling the family economy. Examples of husbands in Melanesia who own and control businesses mostly finally become drunken heads and mismanage and misuse the accumulated wealth for activities that make their families suffer economically such as drinking alcohol, spending more time outside home, getting involved in gambling and other wasteful and self-destructive habits.

E-Commerce

According to statistical analysis, it's believed that the year witnessed about billions of digital buyers and e-Commerce sales alone accounted for 14.1% of retail purchases worldwide. Meanwhile, it's quite unfortunate that even in this digital or modern era the Melanesians in the South Pacific are still currently faced with geographical and infrastructure problems that hinder the fast flow of trade and commercial activities. Political divisions that divide Melanesians into different nation-states with different currencies and economic condition also hinder the direct connection and transactions among Melanesians.

Most of the villages and islands are scattered, remote and underdeveloped with poor infrastructure and almost no mobility. No mater whatever realities we are in, we are forced into modernization process and indeed we cannot stay outside the process.

The internet technology provides the possibility for everyone in the world to communicate, interact and trade with each other while still staying in their own places of origin. For this reason, business entities under PAPUAmart.com LTD. such as MELANESIAmat.com, GoMELANESIA.com, CHEAPHosts.us, WANTOKzon.com and WANTOKexpress.com, and other online products that PAPUAmart.com LTD. provides are created mainly to help connect Melanesia and Melanesian people to interact and trade with each other and further interact and trade in global online markets that are already in operation and proven to be financially profitable.

Mobile-based applications and online platforms are the key products of PAPUAmart.com LTD. and their functions are basically to promote connectivity and accessibility of many villages and islanders in Melanesia. My company advocates e-commerce and mobile-based or internet-based cash-less economic activities that will trigger Melanesian Women entrepreneurship both online and offline, bother short term and long term.

I intend to achieve this by setting up online store, online marketplace, offline store for retailers, online store with offline counters, offline store as outlets of online stores and marketplace, online and offline marketplace for barter of specialty products, mobile and web platforms for foods and grocery delivery purchase and delivery services, pickup and delivery of cargo, domain registration and webhosting services, online airline ticket and hotel rooms booking and issuing, and finally online point of payment (PoP). All will be integrated into one e-commerce system called “Wantok Economy System”.

It is generally known that starting an online store requires little or no finance aside from a smart phone or a computer connected to the Internet, however, starting one complete set of online store with offline store/ counter/ outlet, as well as physical store building fully owned by the company means a lot.

The minimum investment required is about Indonesian IDR3,000,000,000.00 which is equivalent to PNGK737,351.00, equivalent to the Solomon Islands SBD$1,781,002.50, equivalent to Vanuatu Vt.24,904,249.80, equivalent to Fiji FJD$469,012.39, equivalent to AUD$312,017.68, equivalent to USD$214,600.

I am just starting this project with my personal ambition under my company PAPUAmart.com LTD. I know this is an ambitious start-up, but I also know that I have to start this project in order to help the sleeping giant in the South Pacific to get up and begin.

Due to the complexity and for the starting up this project, I am requesting for the sum of USD$150,000.00 for this campaign from total USD$305,000.00. This amount is to cover one offline store that will be called MELANESIAmart.com with a layout that is exactly like modern Circle-K Style store or 7-Eleven store with the only difference that it will have a rasta coloured modern stores.

One set of store requires at least one online store having one staff, one offline store with minimum of four (4) staffs (that is the manager, cashier, waiter and security). In terms of arrangement, the building must be equipped with at least one (1) TV and Computer Screen for products browsing and advertisements, and a counter or outlet. The amount is to enable us put in place all the necessary things needed for the successful completion of the first phase of this project in 12 months. Actually, to complete one set of the business, we need at least 12 months, and then to run it to full self-funding business will demand a minimum of 5 years.

Finally, this is not just a call for support but a service to humanity at large. One that can transform the lives of millions of people, especially the women across the Melanesian archipelago.

Anyone who contribute to this project will automatically become part of our Melanesian families, adopted into the families of the mothers running the business unit, and after 10-15 years, the contributor will make a new agreement to determine whether his or her contribution should be dedicated to the next or new entrepreneur who wants to start a new unit, or to invest to gain profits in the existing unit. In fact, there's also an opportunity for such a contributor to write off the contribution and be paid back by the family/ clan/ tribe of the mothers who run the business unit.

We promise to keep our donors updated with the progress very month, with progress report on our websites. We will also send reports on regular basis to our investors.

Lastly, we will organize visits and communications between tribes who receive contribution and those who made contributions to build personal, family, clan, or tribal relationships.

Thank you once again and do have a wonderful day.

Best regards

Wewo Kotokay