By ESWIN PLESIO
BUSINESS owners across West New Britain Province are expected to benefit from improved access to business registration services following the completion of a three-day training for provincial Commerce officers under the second phase of the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) Help Desk program.
The training concluded last Friday (03/07/26) with the official launch of the second batch of IPA Help Desks, funded through a second allocation of K100,000 from Provincial Governor Sasindran Muthuvel.
The funding follows an earlier K100,000 allocation that supported the first rollout of the program in 2023 and 2024. During that period, Commerce officers based at the provincial headquarters, district offices and Local Level Governments (LLGs) registered hundreds of businesses through IPA’s online system, helping many entrepreneurs formalise their businesses.
Chairman for Economic Services and Gloucester President Edward Meckle, who officially opened the training, said the IPA Help Desk initiative is making government services more accessible to people who would otherwise have to travel long distances to register their businesses.
“This training is important because it equips our officers with the knowledge and skills to help our people register their businesses right here in the province,” Mr Meckle said.
He also raised concerns relating to business registration and service delivery during the training, which were addressed by IPA representative Joshua Jerry.
Mr Jerry assured participants that IPA would continue working closely with the provincial government to strengthen the Help Desk program and improve business registration services across West New Britain.
Executive Manager for Commerce Bernard Bambai said the training reflected the provincial government’s continued commitment to supporting local businesses.
“Our goal is to make business registration easier and more accessible for our people, especially those living in the districts,” Mr Bambai said.
The training was facilitated by two IPA officers and forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the West New Britain Provincial Government and
the Investment Promotion Authority in 2020.
Under the agreement, IPA trains provincial Commerce officers, who then provide online business registration services throughout the province using funding provided by the provincial government.
Provincial leaders believe the second rollout of the IPA Help Desk program will enable more small businesses to register, expand and contribute to the economic growth of West New Britain.