Business
Companies Act 2009 with a reserved list for foreign investment
The Companies Act 2009 modernised a colonial-era statute and introduced online registration through the Company Haus registry. Foreign investors must register under the Foreign Investment Act.
Key rules
- Deadline — Foreign investment registration must be obtained before commencing business
- Deadline — Annual returns are filed with the Registrar of Companies
Governing law
- Companies Act 2009 (s. 12)
- Foreign Investment Act 2005 (s. 4)
- Companies (Community Companies) Regulations 2010
- Consumer Protection Act 1996
In practice
The 2009 Act was accompanied by a genuinely innovative feature: the community company, a simplified vehicle designed for customary groups that need corporate form without the compliance burden of an ordinary company. For foreign investors the binding constraint is the reserved and restricted activities schedule under the Foreign Investment Act, which closes some sectors outright and conditions others. As in Papua New Guinea, the deeper obstacle in resource and tourism projects is customary land access rather than corporate formation, and logging licences in particular have a long history of contested landowner consent.