Survey reveals political stability crucial to drive investment

A GLOBAL trends survey reveals that nearly 50 per cent of investors consider political stability and regulatory environment to be important in investment decisions.
Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) investor servicing and promotional division director Daroa Peter said investors were also wary of global risks arising from geopolitical uncertainties (87 per cent), social instability (70 per cent) and withdrawal from or renegotiation of trade agreements (60 per cent).
“On average, 20 per cent of respondents experience barriers to foreign investment, goods, services and data,” he said.
They are statistics from the World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and PricewaterhouseCoopers Apec.
“PNG is attractive for its natural resources and the business environment is relatively uncrowded,” Peter said.
“The Government encourages foreign investment to improve business competitiveness, increase the volume and value of PNG exports, increase economic activity in the rural areas to create growth and employment, introduce new skills and technologies and provide access to new markets.
“Promoting PNG as an investment destination is the core mandate of the IPA.
“It must be customer service-oriented and avoid delays in responding to enquiries. Prolonged delays in facilitation work will make the investor decide not to invest in PNG and go elsewhere to invest.
“When we deliver on our core mandate, it reflects a best performing agency, hence it improves the ease of doing business rating of the country, making it attractive to investors.”