Dept working on bill for local businesses, SMEs

National

A BILL for businesses reserved for locals and small to medium enterprises will be tabled in parliament next year, Minister for Commerce and Industry Wera Mori says.
Mori told Parliament yesterday the department was working on the bill.
He was responding to Goroka MP Henry Ame who asked if there were any laws or policies in place to protect the rights of locals operating businesses in the country.
Ame said some were struggling as most of the businesses were given to foreign companies.
He called for laws to reserve some businesses for local entrepreneurs.
Mori said it was true that there were some questionable activities which needed to be addressed.
He said that SMEs has become contagious in the country with many locals starting to go into the SME industry and that it was of the country’s best interest for businesses to be reserved.
“I have put a team together in my department to define a clear definition of what a reserved business is, and the pros and cons are in reserving business for locals,” he said.
“We have to fully understand all this, so we know which business can be reserved for locals.”