Many firms fail to meet requisites

 MANY companies in Papua New Guinea have failed to comply with the Companies Act and the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) Act.

This was based on an assessment report by the PNG LNG Enterprise Centre (EC) covering business entities that were evaluated last year for business certification.

William Kep, team leader of business assessors from the PNG LNG Enterprise Centre (EC), said in the case of foreign companies, a foreigner wishing to conduct business in the country must secure a business certification required under section 28 of the IPA Act 1992.

The certification office accepts the business certificate for evaluation and   recommends it to IPA board for approval.

Kep stressed that a certificate will not be granted to a foreign enterprise wanting to do business reserved for citizens or national enterprises.

Related to this, EC conducted yesterday a two-hour awareness workshop for all companies that were assessed last year at the Institute of Banking and Business in Port Moresby.

Meanwhile, IPA manager Thomas Tarabu said IPA applies a premium fee of K25 for over-the-counter service for business certificate applications.

He said those business entities that have been incorporated required registration with IPA.