The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru has confirmed that the official launching of the new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Foundation Policy will take place on Sunday 15th June in Port Moresby city. The launch of this policy will result in the current SEZ Act of 2019 being repealed and a new Act will be enacted to reflect the changes in the foundation policy. “The policy will define what SEZs are and the different types of SEZs, it will tell you also the types of industries within SEZs. It will also tell you about the incentives that are…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The country’s consumer watchdog- the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC)- is warning retailers and wholesalers nationwide to comply with the government imposed Zero- rated Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief policy. The ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Paulus Ain explained that this initiative is expected to deliver nearly K800 million in GST savings for all the households nationwide and the ICCC will work with relevant authorities to enforce this. “The ICCC will assist the IRC (Internal Revenue Commission) and PNG Customs in ensuring that the intended relief reaches consumers, and that prices are fairly adjusted in…
It has been revealed that one of the police officers involved in the rape of a young woman in their custody at the Saraga Police Station in Port Moresby city, was supposed to be serving a prison sentence. The Police Commissioner, David Manning, revealed this in a statement released over the weekend, confirming that an immediate inquiry is underway by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Internal Affairs) to determine how this particular officer, Constable Danny Karaio, who was sentenced in 2012 to more than 14 years imprisonment, was not still in prison, obtained a police uniform and had been acting…
There have been concerns being raised about the small-scale mining sector being taken over by foreigners, a sector that is considered reserved to Papua New Guineans and this has prompted parliament to look into it. The matter was also raised during the recent parliament session where questions were raised regarding why a lot of foreign companies are now getting into alluvial mining, prompting the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship Matters to conduct an inquiry with key stakeholders on this issue. Committee Chairman Ricky Morris, MP made this statement when endorsing the Chief Migration Officer Wellington Navasivu on the Advisory Committee…
The new TISA Bank, having received its commercial banking license in August 2024, aims to increase its presence through its services in the areas of Retail, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Corporate Banking in 2025 and onwards. TISA Group’s Chairman Mr. Gabriel Tai during the recent announcement of the bank’s 2024 financial year performances on Thursday 5th June in Port Moresby city, stated that TISA Bank aims to become a trusted financial Group that empowers every customer to thrive. “We will continue to invest in technology, people, partnership, and responsible practices that reflect the values on which we were…
The Constitutional Law Reform Commission (CLRC) this week launched the Development of the Underlying Law book, a book which evolved as a means to keep records and also for educational purposes, especially for law students in the country. The book, which contains Papers from the 3rd Underlying Law Conference in 2017, was launched on Tuesday 3rd June in Port Moresby city. The CLRC Secretary Dr. Mange Matui in his speech highlighted the importance of the book, asserting it as a guiding discourse for discussions surrounding underlying law in Papua New Guinea (PNG). “The idea of publishing this book stemmed from…
One of the oldest political parties formed prior to independence over 50 years ago now has a new parliamentary leader following the recent passing of the founder of the party and the last man standing, late Sir Julius Chan. This is the People’s Progress Party (PPP), established in the late 1960s, it is the longest serving political party in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and this afternoon in Port Moresby city, the Opposition Leader and Member for Kiriwina- Goodenough, Douglas Tomuriesa, was announced as the newly appointed Leader. The Leader said the first thing is the restructuring of the party to…
Well, great news for the 80, 000 plus members of the Teachers Savings & Loans Society (TISA), they can expect a 7% bounce interest paid to their Yumi accounts and be able to access it tomorrow, Friday 6th June. This was announced this morning in Port Moresby city by the Chairman of TISA Mr. Gabriel Tai when giving a live stream presentation on the performance results of the 2024 financial year, describing it as a great year of financial performance. In 2024, TISA continued to deliver on its promise of helping members save, borrow, and build toward a secure and…
Parliament resumed sitting this morning only to be adjourned right after it commenced proceedings after experiencing power disruptions. Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Koni Iguan addressed the house saying that the continuous blackouts in the city of Port Moresby yesterday have badly affected the National Parliament’s standby power generators; hence, during the opening prayer this morning, the lights went out in the parliament chamber. “It’s already affected the aircon and while we were praying, you can see that we have a blackout.” “So, honorable members, I adjourn parliament to tomorrow (Thursday 5th June) 10 o’clock AM,” announced the Deputy Speaker. Much…
The question pertaining to funds allocated to districts and provinces to celebrate the 50th Independence Anniversary of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was raised during question time in parliament this morning in Port Moresby city. West Sepik Provincial Member, Tony Wouwou, directed this question to the new Finance Minister, Thomas Opa, enquiring if the National Government will be giving additional funding apart from the K50 million already allocated in the 2025 national budget, for the celebrations. Minister Opa said the government through the Finance Department has given Financial Instructions to District Development Authorities (DDAs) and Provincial Governments to use K1 million…