The Business Council of PNG says the ‘reserved business policy’ must not be based on emotion but a transparent mechanism.
In an interview with Loop PNG, BCPNG Executive Director, Douveri Henao, said the development of the policy and ‘reserved business’ list must be done in an appropriate manner.
“I think it needs to be on a case by case, the difficulty with the reserved activities list is, the only people that really know the potential of the commercial ventures are the operators themselves,” he said.
“If they genuinely feel that the market is distorted by foreign participants who are not abiding by the rules then yes, let’s find remedies for that, and prosecute them.
Douveri added: “It can’t be based on emotions, can’t be based on populism, it needs to be based on some sort of structure, some sort of transparent mechanism.
“And look, on the outset, there are many tools to make Papua New Guineans participate in business operations and we just have to keep exploring which one of those are.”
The proposed reserved business legislation is a contentious issue which has been debated since its introduction in 2014.
It has received much support from the public with the view that expatriates have taken up business activities that locals are more than capable of running, but have not been given the opportunity or resources.
Small to Medium Enterprise Corporation (SMEC) Acting Managing Director, Steven Maken, said during the Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council National Forum late last year that the proposed legislation must be handled with care.
He said many businesses that have operated will not back down without a fight if the law is passed.
Also last year, Global Lead for SME Finance in the Finance and Markets Global Practice, Simon Bell, labeled the proposed law as a ‘bad legislation’, primarily on the premise that employment and service standards would drop.
The policy is yet to be tabled in Parliament.