Authority identifies 400 businesses ‘in default’

A COMPLIANCE exercise carried out by the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) with other regulatory agencies has identified 400 business in the National Capital District (NCD) that are not operating according to regulations.
IPA managing director Clarence Hoot said the businesses did not satisfy IPA’s standards but those of other agencies as well.
“From the summarised report of the exercise undertook in Port Moresby, about 400 businesses were in default,” he said.
“These are not only IPA-related defaults but also non-compliance with other regulatory bodies as well such as tax defiance and foreign workers coming in with no work permits and no visas.
“From an Investment Promotion Authority perspective, we found a small number of businesses who were not registered with the IPA and most of them are non-compliant with the annual returns.”
Hoot said from the exercise, non-compliant businesses would be penalised and then given the chance to comply with the regulations from IPA and the other regulatory bodies.
“First of all they (defaulting businesses) will be penalised but given the opportunity to comply,” he said.
“If they don’t, the next course of action will be to refer them to the legal and compliance division who will then move to prosecute.”
Hoot confirmed that two companies would be taken to court as a result of the exercise.
He said a common default by most companies was that they were not declaring their operations.
“All foreign companies are required by law to state the location that they are operating from and their activity.”
Hoot said companies that were not following the activity that they had declared needed approval and be accountable.
He said the main challenge that IPA faced in trying to identify non-compliant business was a lack of budgetary support from the government and a lack of cooperation from other agencies.
“The IPA has not been getting any budgetary support from the government in the last four years,” Hoot said.
“We survive from whatever we make from the registry and whatever investments that we have.
“For us to be able to ensure an effective compliance exercise, we need to be adequately funded so that we can send officers to all corners of the country.”