THE Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the World Bank Group (WBG)/International Finance Corporation (IFC) are now reviewing the investment legal framework and developing a comprehensive investment policy.
While responding to a supplementary question from the Opposition in Parliament yesterday, Trade Minister Premila Kumar said the revised legislation would be expanded to include domestic and foreign investments as opposed to the current law that focused only on foreign investments.
“The key features of the revised legislation will include investors’ rights and obligations, national treatment test and dispute settlement mechanism,” Mrs Kumar said.
She said this would make the legislation more robust and responsive to the needs of investors, while ensuring that investors fulfilled their obligations as per the laws of Fiji.
“Roles of all relevant investment-related agencies will be redefined and strengthened,” she said.
“The ministry and WBG/IFC have undertaken consultations with the relevant stakeholders, such as key government agencies, private sector and civil society for the development of the draft legislation and investment policy statement.”
She said that in the interim, the investment policy statement would be the guiding policy for investments to ensure that the desired objective of attracting high-value, export-oriented investments was achieved.
“The review of the legal framework is expected to be completed and submitted to Cabinet this year,” she said.
“At the end of the process, we will have a simple, yet effective legal framework that provides protection to investors and outlines their obligations as an investor in Fiji.”
FACT FILE: What is the Investment Policy Statement? & The Investment Policy Statement sets out Fiji’s objectives and principles for investment in our country. The statement tells the world how Fiji will become a destination for investments that support our development aspirations going forward.