pportunity
Issue #10 October, 2023

Business News, Reviews and Updates from the IPA

MD’s INBOX

in Hong Kong, People’s Republic ofChina.
Read more about the event in our inside story.

CLARENCE M HOOTManaging Director
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the 10th edition of the IPA
Opportunity Newsletter for 2023.
The month of October was a hectic one
for us at the Investment Promotion Authority. This month saw the country hosta series of international forums in the
country as well as abroad.
Here at the IPA front, we co-hosted the
PNG-EU Business, Trade and Investment
Conference together with the PNG EU
Delegation and the National Trade Office.
The IPA was also in attendance at the Inaugural PNG-Asia Investment Conference

Tips & Traps
If you have not renewed your Business
Name in September of this year when
we gave our deadline, you would havenoticed that your Business Name status
would now be showing as “Lapsed”.

The IPA also rolled out 90% of its awareness program this month. One of the
key highlights of this program was thelaunching of two IPA Help Desks, one
in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province
and another in Popondetta, Oro Province bringing the number of IPA Help
Desks throughout the country to eight.
Read full details of this in our lead story.

“Removed”. To have the company reinstated, it will take a tedious process
and relevant penalty fees will be imposed.
During this grace period we are callingon companies to come forward andre-register to avoid penalty fees except
for a K500 one-off fee for Annual Returns regardless of the number of years
your Annual Returns are outstanding.
Thank you and hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter.
Clarence M HootManaging Director

As we are into the final quarter of thisyear, we would like to invite you toshare some of the experiences yourbusiness went through this year. We
would be delighted to feature yourbusiness in the “Let’s Hear It” section of
the newsletter.
On the compliance side of things, wewould like to remind companies againthat November 30th is the deadline forall companies to Re-register. On the
1st of December we will switch on theautomated compliance component of
the registry, whereby, the system willautomatically change the status of
non-compliant companies toshot below. You will be required to pay a fee of K250. Once this process iscompleted then you can then proceed to renewing your Business Name with afee of K150.

If you have Authority over the Business
Name then go to your dashboard, selectthe Business Name, click on it andselect “ New Filing”. This will take you tothe page that will ask you for the “Formcategory” you wish to lodge.
Select “Winding Up” and in the Forms
Available to File box you select J-53
“Application for revocation of businessname cancellation”. Refer to the screenINVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 1

IN THENEWSIPA CO-HOSTS THE 4TH EU-PNG BUSINESS,
TRADE AND INVESTMENT CONFERENCE
petroleum, construction, transport, we attract more investments from the EU
SINCE the inaugural EU-PNG Business, andwholesale and retail, real estate and for- region.

Trade and Investment Conference, four(4) years ago, there has been an increased
visibility and investment interest between
the European Union countries, Papua New
Guinea and the Pacific.

As one of the key agencies involved in theevent, the Investment Promotion Authority
has maintained its partnership with the EU
Delegation in PNG to continue to drive thepartnership interests since 2019.

estry.

As one of the main stakeholders that supported this program from its initial stages
five years ago, we will continue to workwith the EU Delegation and the EU-PNG
Business Council and other government
and private sector partners to ensure that

We have more opportunities for investments in sustainable sectors especially
agriculture, tourism, fisheries, clean renewable energy, carbon trade and hydrogen development apart from oil and gas,
mining and forestry.

The conference has also given the opportunity for our PNG and Pacific MSMEs toshowcase their businesses and connect
with the markets in Europe. Last year, wewere able to bring in some of our MSMEs
from our 22 provinces and it was pleasing
to see how they told their stories and makeconnections with partners and industry
players during the conference then.
Since 2012, IPA foreign certification records
shows that a total of more than 110 companies were registered by EU companies in
the last decade. The proposed investment
value of this cluster is almost K3billion with
about a thousand jobs created.
The source of those investments are from
Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Greeceand Denmark amongst others from Europe.
The main sectors of investment are mining

From Right: Registrar Intellectual Property Office, Amelia Na’aru, Director Corporate Service,
Anna Marikawa, Executive Officer to MD’s Office, Ronald Maru, Senior Marketing
Officer-Trade, Ken Pep and Raphael Momong.

INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 2

IN THE

NEWS

Papua New Guinea is open for business:
Clarence HootPAPUA NEW GUINEA is attractive with
its natural resources endowments andpristine natural environment. There isspace for everyone to do business given
its diverse resources and sectoral opportunities which most remain untapped;and most importantly, Papua New Guinea
is open for business.
This were the key messages deliveredby Managing Director of the Investment
Promotion Authority, Mr. Clarence Hootat the inaugural Papua New Guinea-Asia
Investment Conference in Hong Kong.

Mr. Hoot presented the outlook of
PNG’s investment climate and zoomed
into the key roles of the IPA for the purposes of those who may have businessinterests and wish to do business in PNG.
He also gave a brief run down on thebusiness entry requirements in place forpotential investors who contemplating
coming to do business in PNG.
Key areas Mr. Hoot mentioned included visa, foreign certification of companies, work permits, tax registrations,sectoral licenses, compliance with otherbusiness laws including the winding up
processes.
The conference was the first of its kindfor PNG in the Asian region and it provided PNG the opportunity to explore potential prospects for investment from thePeople’s Republic of China and its provinces and special territories including
Hong Kong, and other major Asian economies of Japan, India, Korea and South
East Asian economies.

From left to right: President, PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum, Mr. Anthony Smare, Southern Highlands Governor, Hon. William Powi,MP,
Acting Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, Mr. Li Yongsheng, Prime Minister, Hon.
James Marape, MP, Minister for International Trade and Investment. Hon. Richard Maru and Investment Promotion Authority Managing
Director, Mr. Clarence Hoot

IPA participates at the World Indigenous Business Forum

IPA team at the booth

Senior Marketting Officer-Trade, Ken Pep
serving coffee at the IPA booth
INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 3

IPA rolls out provincial outreach program

Acting Senior Registration Officer-Intellectual
Property Office, Geno Raka addressing the participantsin Kokopo.

IPA doing one - on one session on Online Registry System (ORS)
with participants during the awareness in Vanimo

Participants expressed satisfaction after the awareness session held at the Sir Ignatius Stadium indoor complex in Lae andgathered for a photoshoot. Insert: Participants with the IPA team during the awareness at Mutzing Station of Markham
District, Morobe Province

IPA launches Help Desk in Oro ProvinceT

he Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) launched the IPA Help-Desk inPopondetta, Oro Province on Friday 27thof October 2023. The IPA Help-Desk will
help the people in the province in terms ofbusiness registrations and the provision of
investment information.
The IPA Help-Desk launching follows
the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Oro Provincial Administration and the IPA in November 2021.
The then IPA Acting Managing Director
and Director of Investor Servicing & Promotion Division, Mr. Daroa Peter, when
officiating during the launch highlighted
that the launching of the Oro IPA HelpDesk will make IPA services accessible tothe people at the provincial levels and

INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 4

Continue on to next page..........

IN THENEWS

assist our local SMEs prosper in theirbusiness endeavours.
The IPA Help-Desk was officiallylaunched in a small but significant ceremony in Popondetta, Oro Province by Mr.
Peter and the Oro Provincial Administrator, Mr. Trevor Magei.
Mr Peter highlighted the importanceof the help desk in bringing IPA services
to the provinces where IPA does not havean office. He emphasized that the IPA
Help Desk will allow for the commerce
division to not only register businesses
but to also profile investment opportunities in various sectors for promotion. He
urged the Oro Provincial Administration,
particularly the commerce officers who
attended the IPA Help Desk launch to further train and impart the skills and knowledge they have gained to others in theirdistricts, local level government wards,
and villages. The Oro Province Commerce
Officers who attended the IPA Help Desk

continued from previous page........
launch were trained on how to operate
the IPA Help Desk and in particular, on
how to use the IPA online Registration
System and do project and sector profiling for investment opportunities in theProvince..
Mr Peter also thanked the Oro Provincial Administration under the leadershipof Mr. Magei, for the ongoing support
and cooperation since the signing of the
MoU back in 2021. He also acknowledged
Mr Colin Otoha – Acting Advisor – Commerce Division and the IPA management
and staff for the tireless efforts in organising the official launching of the IPA HelpDesk in Oro Province.
Provincial Administrator, Mr. Magei
was emotional when giving his speechsaying that the IPA Help Desk launch
event maybe small but holds greater potential to impact the lives of the people
by engaging in business activities andpartake in the development of the prov-

ince as a whole. He was grateful to IPA
for honouring the IPA-Oro Province MOU
by providing the IPA Help Desk and hegave his full support to the Oro Province
Commerce Division to strategize on thebest approach of engaging the people
in business and investment activities andopportunities in the province.
He said that the launching was timely in the sense that the local people will
now have access to IPA services within
the Province.
The IPA Help Desk launching also coincided with the IPA Provincial Awarenessin Oro Province which took place at the
Birdwing Butterfly Lodge on Thursday
26th October 2023. The awareness andlaunching was attended by businesses
and District Business Development Officers from Popondetta, Sohe, and Ijivitari.

IPA launches Help Desk in Eastern Highlands
Province
The Investment Promotion Authority (IPA)
launched the IPA Help-Desk in Goroka, Eastern
Highlands Province on Tuesday 3rd of October
2023.
The IPA Help-Desk will assist the people, particularly businesses in the province access IPA services such as business registration, promotingof business opportunities and the provision of
investment information including intellectual
property information in the province.
The Help-Desk launching follows the signingof a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between the Eastern Highlands Provincial Administration and the IPA on the 1st of February,
2023.
The IPA’s Director for the Investor Servicing
and Promotion Division, Mr Daroa Peter when
officiating during the launch on behalf of IPA,
highlighted that the launching of the IPA/EHP’s
Help-Desk is bringing the IPA services closer tothe people in the province and districts of EHP
and thanked the Eastern Highlands Province
for recognising the importance of its people
having access to IPA services.
He said the establishment of the IPA Help Desk
will make IPA services accessible to the people at the provincial and the district levels andassist our local SMEs prosper in their businessendeavours.

IPA’s Director for Investor Servicing & Promotion Division, Mr Daroa Peter (second
from left) with officers from the Eastern Highlands Provincial Government.

The IPA Help-Desk was established within the Provincial Commerce Division of
the Eastern Highlands Provincial Administration.
This is the 7th Help Desk established by the IPA in the provinces around thecountry.

INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 5

What is Geographical Indication?
The use of geographical indications is an important method of indicating the origin of goods and services. One of
the aims of their use is to promote commerce by informing
the customer of the origin of the products. Often this may
imply a certain quality, which the customer may be looking
for. They can be used for industrial and agricultural products. Protection of such indications is on a national basis
but there are various international treaties that assist theprotection in a range of countries.
Geographical indications in a broad sense include indications of source, appellation of origin, and geographical indication (in the strict sense). The Paris Convention does notuse in its terminology the term geographical indication; itrather utilizes the terms, indications of source and appellations of origin.
An indication of source means any expression or sign used
to indicate that a product or service originates in a country,
a region, and a specific place where the product originated.
Example: Made in Japan.
An appellation of origin means the geographical name ofa country, region,specific place which serves to designate
a product originating therein, the characteristic qualities ofwhich are due exclusively or essentially to the geographicalenvironment, including natural or human factors or both.
Example: Champagne.
Basically, a geographical indication is a notice stating that agiven product originates in a given geographical area. The
best known examples of geographical indications are thoseused for wines and spirits.
For instance, the geographical indication Champagne isused to indicate that a special kind of sparkling wine originates in the Champagne region of France. In the same way,
Cognac is used for brandy from the French region aroundthe town of Cognac. However, geographical indications arealso used for products other than wines and spirits, suchas tobacco from Cuba, or for cheeses such as Roquefort.
They may also be used for industrial products, as Sheffield
is for steel.
The IPA through the Intellectual Property Office of PNG (IPOPNG) has now developed a Draft GI Bill and is conducting
consultations with stakeholders to seek their views on thedraft Bill.
In a recent workshop in Port Moresby the team consulted
with participants on the current state of products’ controls
in PNG especially for industries such as agriculture, food,forestry and handcrafts. The workshop also tried to identify
and link the roles of public & private authorities that certify
products in terms of quality and standards.
For more information on Intellectual
Property, Contact:
Tel: (675) 321 7311 / 308 4432 /321 3900
Email: registrar.ipopng@ipa.gov.pg

LET’S HEAR IT!

Continue on to next page..........

INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 6

continued from previous page........

FIFI’S TREATS – CATERING & EVENTS
BUSINESSThis month we introduce to you Fifi’s Treats, a small business, which started off as a home- based venture of preparing sweets and treats for birthdays and class parties, andnow a fully pledged events and catering business.
Fifi’s Treats was born out of Vanessa Dalele and her partner
Raymond Pakure for their daughter Fiona when they would
prepare cakes and sweets for Fiona’s class parties andbirthday parties. It was from these treats that they created aunique taste and décor for their cakes and products in Port
Moresby.

love. When you put all these feelings into your work, it willshow through your customers – that smile when they see
your work and taste the magic in your goodies.” From ahumble baking and delivering cakes and treats in 2021, Fifi’s Treats has ventured into a catering and events planningbusiness.
The Opportunity Newsletter found Fifi’s Treats through Pacifund Limited who has provided coaching and mentoring forthe business through its Biz Launch Challenge.

With a feminine touch in the products,Vanessa instils morethan just cakes and sweets in their products. She pours love
into her cooking and baking and she embraces a healthy
and cheerful environment for the best outcome. When
askedwhat the unique thing was about Fifi’s Treats, Vanessa
said it is “love”.
“The unique thing about Fifi’s Treats is the love we have forwhat we do. When we prepare a customer’s order, we makesure our environment at home is calm, happy, and filled with					
The Pacifund Biz Launch Challenge is a program designed by Pacifund Limited as					
a financial services and BD assistance program for MSMEs to assist entrepreneurs					in starting a new business or improving an existing business. The goal of Biz Launch					
is to enable entrepreneurs to generate at least K10,000 per month. Since 2018, 							
Pacifund has offered financial education and strategic business consulting to more					than 1,500 MSMEs.
					In March and April of 2023, Vanessa decided to take up the challenge in learning 							
new management techniques and build new network and strategies to improve busi
					ness performance and encouraged her husband Raymond Pakure to join Pacifund					Biz Launch Challenge. According to the couple, the 30 Day Business Challenge 							Program has helped Fifi’s Treats expand and improved their business performance					and enabled them to launch a new marketing strategy to track their business					properly and maintain sales targets.
“Before we joined Biz Launch, Fifi’s Treats was struggling to keep up with sales.
We didn’t really know how to get in the right track. But after we joined Biz Launch,everything changed. We followed the steps taught to us in setting up our businessproperly. And right after our launching at Gateway, our sales increased rapidly, ”
Vanessa said.
Fifi’s Treats, is now a registered catering & events business and aims to open acafeteria to sell their delicacies and catering services. In the near future, they plan
to also secure an office space to store event equipment and manage an admin
support staff of more than 30 personnel.
Ms. Dalele’s advice to aspiring and existing business owners who are either juststarting out or are still struggling to find their place in the business world is this“Never give up! Even when life throws you down, you get back up, focus on yourgoal and keep going. If you feel like giving up, take a breath and look back at what
inspired you from the very beginning and remind yourself that you have what it takes
to make your business become a success. You are powerful than you think!”
Fifi’s Treats are located at Kennedy Estate, Wantok Apartment and they can be contacted on:
70766835. They also have Facebook and Instagram pages:
Facebook: Fifi's Treats - Catering & Events
Instagram: Fifi's Treats - Catering & Events
INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 7

Q

Opportunity newsletter

UESTION

TIME

Question: Is it possible to merge
two Business Names together?
Answer: No it is not possible.
A Business Name allows you tocarry out one particular type ofbusiness activity. The intention
to merge two Business Names
means that two different types ofbusiness activities will be carriedout under one Business Name.
A separate certificate of Business
Name registration must be obtained for each Business Nameused.
On the other hand, a person or
persons may conduct businessunder more than one business
name, provided that the use ofmultiple business names is not
calculated to seriously mislead the
public about the business it conducts.

We have covered
the globe and we’re
expanding.

In particular, the business nameis merely a trading name of a sole
proprietor, a partnership or an
incorporated body or firm.

Do you have a general question about theregulatory side of running a business or havea query on investment promotion or Intellectual
Property rights?
beverlyp@ipa.gov.pg
We will publish a selection of questions and our answers
in each issue of Opportunity.

“Your business,
Your Investment,		Our advice”
Disclaimer > Opportunity is intended to provide information of a general nature only. The content of this newsletter is not intended to be advice
or recommendation. It is not appropriate for the purposes of carrying out a transaction or making an investment decision. > The IPA takes reasonable steps to ensure the information provided in the newsletter is accurate and up-to-date at the time of issue, as well as to obtain reliable content
from third parties. However, the IPA does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or endorse the views or opinions given
by any third party provider, nor takes responsibility for any errors made in the process of providing this newsletter.
INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY | Page 8