Melbourne, Australia, October 28, 2008
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Papua New Guinea to help improve the country’s regulatory environment for business.
The PNG regulatory simplification project is expected to streamline business registration, making it easier and faster to register a new business. It will review license and permit processes to help create a more business-friendly licensing system. The project aims to foster consultations between the public and private sectors to promote reform and to deal more effectively with business challenges.
Gabriel Kapris, Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, said, “We are committed to building a world-class business environment and the private sector, which is key to increasing employment and improving livelihoods and incomes for ordinary Papua New Guineans. The project will support this effort, benefiting many local small and medium businesses that are currently dealing with complex regulations.”
Richard Ranken, IFC Senior Advisor for East Asia and the Pacific, said, “I congratulate the minister and the PNG government for their vision to secure a better future for all local businesses. We look forward to working closely with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Investment Promotion Authority, and other public and private bodies to make this initiative a success.”
In addition to streamlining business registration in Papua New Guinea, the project will address foreign labor and residency permit processes and examine the scope for mediation in civil disputes that could help relieve the burden on the court system and reduce costs. The project will also assess investment law, policy, and promotion to help increase the country’s attractiveness for foreign and local investment.
IFC will implement the project with funding from FIAS, a multidonor investment climate advisory service of the World Bank Group, and PEP-Pacific, a multidonor facility supported by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and IFC.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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