Legislations to reserve businesses for locals: ABG

The Autonomous Bougainville Government says it has introduced legislations to reserve businesses for locals and also for joint ventures with external investors.

ABG Treasury and Finance Minister, Robin Wilson, said the legislations aim to boost the local economy by maintaining revenue on the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

Wilson said they are mindful of how some investors keep money offshore and want to avoid that scenario.

With the development of key infrastructure on Bougainville, the ABG is gearing towards potential investment opportunities on the island.

However, this time the ABG is well prepared to ensure that the locals are not given a raw deal but as equal participants in the economy through Small and Medium Enterprise and Joint Venture Partners.

“We are very mindful of investors coming into Bougainville and leaving with everything or sending everything back to wherever they came from,” Wilson stated.

“So we have come up with a policy where we have reserved businesses. And those outside of reserved businesses we have a Joint Venture Policy where we at least maintain some of the revenue back in Bougainville rather than send everything out.”

The Minister said currently the international perception of Bougainville is still not appealing, making investment in other sectors uncertain.

However, he said mineral exploration in other parts of the island is slowly picking up.

“So we have a very good policy, but it is the international perception of Bougainville as a high risk area that has stopped a lot of the investors coming.

“But that has not stopped the mining people from coming. And we anticipate that the mining happening in Bougainville, I’m sure other contractors would be very interested in coming to Bougainville.”

Wilson said the ABG has increased its budget allocation in its 2018 budget from 1 percent to 30 percent in a bid to improve economic development.

“So our internal revenue remains at a mere K20 million. We’re anticipating that by pumping more revenue into the economic sector, we will influence that.”

(File pic)

Author: 
Cedric Patjole