Maku Gifts – Wins the 2023 Ela Motors SME Award!

October 19, 2023

Maku Gifts has won the grand prize at the 4th Annual Ela Motors SME Award Night held on October 19th at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby. As the winner, Maku Gifts received a brand-new Hino 200 Series Truck, which was awarded by Ela Motors. The CEO of Ela Motors, Mitsuyoshi Okutsu, presented a dummy key of the truck to Annette Sete, founder of Maku Gifts, while congratulating her on the accomplishment.

Speaking at the event, Mitsu-san expressed his delight in congratulating Maku Gifts and acknowledged all the sponsors for supporting the SME program and the organizing committee. He also informed the audience that Toyota Tsusho has been operating in the country for 60 years, and he committed his support for the program.

Ela Motors, as the grand prize and naming rights sponsor for the award, aims to help elevate the recipient’s profile and recognize their ongoing contributions to the retail industry. The 2023 Ela Motors SME Award recipient, Maku Gifts, has demonstrated outstanding services, products, and employment in the retail business sector, which led to the recognition.

Ela Motors is a company that values and supports small businesses and is honored to have had the opportunity to contribute to the success of this exceptional local SME retail business. Maku Gifts, the winner of the grand prize, is renowned for its impressive range of Lavagirl products, including clothing pieces (Lavagirl & Xplosion), fabrics, handmade jewelry, and homemade decorations, creating employment for locals.

The event was hosted to recognize excellence, inspire innovation, growth, and reward the best-performing SMEs around the country. Since its inception in 2019, the PNG SME Awards – organized by PNG SME Magazine – have witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of nominations in various award categories. Ela Motors has been sponsoring the ‘PNG SME of the Year Award’ for the fourth consecutive year.

Congratulations to Annette Sete and the Maku Gifts team on their well-deserved success!