Policy aims to create local business

 THE revamped reserved activity list component of the small to medium enterprise policy is an ambitious economic plan which will not kill business and investment, an official says.

A Commerce Department spokesman said the revised list was approved by the Government to encourage and create an environment conducive for Papua New Guineans to develop successful entrepreneurs. 

The department was asked by The National to respond to concerns raised that the revamped reserve activity list would kill businesses in the country. The spokesman said the revised version once launched would make sure that a wide range of business activities were owned by locals.

These include businesses in culture and tourism, catering and food business, agriculture, information technology services, forestry and related activities, alluvial and small scale mining, provision of security services and legal firms operating in the country.  

The previous reserved list catered for the small businesses such as craft making deemed not suitable for Papua New Guineans to run.

The revamped one under the small to medium enterprise policy aims to retrieve a wide range of business activities and reserve them for locals.

The department hopes that by 2030, 500,000 small to medium businesses will have been owned by Papua New Guineans and will increase the average gross domestic product by 50 per cent.

The department hopes by 2030 all Papua New Guineans could own a business.