Launching of the Government COVID19 Assistance for the Private Sector; and The Worker Associations Grant
- COVID19 Assistance for the Private Sector
The Government’s commitment in private sector development is the purpose of appropriating
$10million Tala in its Budget for FY2021/2022 with the purpose to assist the private sector in
their efforts to combat the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on their operations.
The Government launched the COVID19 Private Sector Assistance to all eligible businesses
who were operating pre-COVID and are still operating to date.
A total of 6363 eligible businesses will receive the following allocation:
Sole Traders and Partnerships: $1500/per business license/activity and should they
have more than 4 businesses, only 4 will be funded, that is, maximum of $6,000.00 for a
sole trader or partnership with at least 4 business licenses.
Companies: $1800/business license/activity and should they have more than 5
businesses only 5 will be given the grant to, that is, maximum of $9,000.00 for a
company with at least 5 business licenses.
The Assistance is administered by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour and will be
working together with the Ministry of Customs and Revenue, Ministry of Finance and the
Samoa Bureau of Statistics.
All eligible businesses will need to fill out an Application that can be uplifted from the Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and Labour and can also be downloaded from the Ministry website at
www.mcil.gov.ws.
The eligible businesses also are required to submit copies of their Business Licenses for year
ended 2020 and 2021 together with the Application Form to the Ministry of Commerce,
Industry and Labour for assessment and approval before funds are disbursed by the Ministry of
Finance.
All businesses also are required to report back after one (1) month of receiving their grant on
how their fund was utilized.
The businesses that are excluded from this Assistance are those in the Tourism Industry that are
operating accommodation services, tour operators and travel agents. The Tourism Industry Fund
of $5million Tala that was launched in late 2021 cover these operators and the reason for their
exclusion from this Assistance.
2. Worker Associations Grant
In recognizing also the contribution of Workers to our economic developments, the Government
also launched on this day the Worker Associations Grant to a total of $20,000.00.
The Grant will be directed towards work associations sitting on the Samoa National Tripartite
Forum (SNTF). The Forum has been a longstanding platform for discussion of national labour
and employment policies, legislation and strategies.
Using the principles of social dialogue and tripartite consultation, representatives of
Government, employers and workers are able to have their voices heard in the development of
important labour and employment matters to ensure that all constituents are sharing in the fruits
of economic development.
Therefore, the members on this forum are positioned to ensure issues important to workers are
addressed across all occupations including private and public sector, and specifically nursing
and maritime workers.
The Grant is allocated for the following (4) Worker Associations:
i. Samoa Workers Congress
ii. Public Service Association
iii. Samoa Nurses Association
iv. Samoa Seafarers and Maritime Association
Each of these Worker Association will receive a grant of $5,000.00.
This grant will be an annual fixture to support Worker Associations with their administrative
costs and importantly planning of each recipient in rolling out their respective programs.
