Amend regulations, council says

THERE needs to be amendments to regulations so that all export earnings are brought back into and held within the PNG banking system, according to the PNG Manufacturing Council. Chief executive officer Chey Scovell said, during a Business-Government dialogue this week, that this applied especially to all monies held by the State directly or indirectly. “Offshore requirements can be settled from their PNG accounts,” he said. Scovell, in his other suggested areas of improvement, said there needed to be focus on only polices that increased capacity for efficient, competitive production. “The business of business is business,” he said. “Leave wealth creation to the private sector and do what Government are best placed to do, take your share of the value created. Scovell said the Government needed to implement policies that targeted investment in the manufacturing sector, including downstream processing of industrial goods such as clothing, textiles, foodstuffs and beverages, timber products, chemicals, plastic and paper products and motor vehicle parts. He said projects which reduced the cost of doing business, training to infrastructure as well as service sectors which were not reliant on extracting a resource such as tourism needed to be supported. “Prioritise investments that contribute to economic growth, promotes regional integration and offers increased equity by Papua New Guineans, which do not require substantial buy-in/concessions,” he said. “Focus on those that create meaningful jobs and professional development, use domestic resources, and have export potential. “Take a balanced approach to tax reform, stop making one on one concessions and make PNG a competitive and desirable location to earn. Implement a holistic policy environment that encourages and directs spending on local goods and services. “Local being all that keep majority of profits in PNG. “Restore confidence in the machinery of Government. “It needs to be apolitical, responsive and fit for purpose. “If the belief is that service improvement programmes is of more value, make the required changes throughout the public service.”