In response to the announcement made by Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) managing director Clarence Host of the proposed amendments to the IPA Act (1992), the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) has welcomed these changes.
According to ICCC commissioner and chief executive officer Paulus Ain, many businesses across the country are owned by foreign nationals.
“Our people operating small to medium enterprises (SMEs) need to be protected and a review of the reserved business activity list included in the IPA Act is most welcome,” he said in a statement. “Over the years and as recently as during our price monitoring exercise that ICCC undertook during the state of emergency we found that many businesses that were meant for Papua New Guineans were in fact owned by foreigners. While I agree that there are operators who have been paying taxes and providing employment, there are still others who continue to break laws and engage in activities meant for Papua New Guineans.”
Ain said that aside from consumer protection, they would be supporting amendments by the IPA to protect the welfare of the people from Papua New Guinea.
