News Releases

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (29 March 2023)—Government officials from across the Pacific will assemble in Sydney for a 3-day business registries workshop organized by the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) and New Zealand Companies Office (NZCO).

The Pacific Business Registries Workshop will be held in the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office (PLCO) in Sydney from 29–31 March 2023.

The workshop will explore registry operations and experiences across the Pacific; data-led approaches to improving business enabling environment policy; improvements to registry operations, including reporting compliance; the latest developments in Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism; and future opportunities in the online registry space.

Attendees of the Pacific Business Registries Workshop in Sydney.

“I look forward to connecting with my Pacific registry counterparts post-COVID-19, and look forward to sharing registry developments and opportunities to support economic growth, balanced with our regulatory roles,” NZCO National Manager Bolen Ng said.

The workshop is a continuation of PSDI’s longstanding work with ADB’s 14 Pacific developing member countries (DMCs) to reform key business laws and implement modern, electronic registries which simplify business formalization, trade, and growth.

These reforms have also improved the ability of Pacific DMC governments to collect relevant statistical information, and implement supportive private sector policies. 

“Without dedicated policy officers and registry staff, none of these improvements would have been possible,” ADB PLCO Officer-in-Charge Matt Hodge said. “Workshop attendees will benefit from discussing developments in registry policy and operations with their Pacific peers.”

The Pacific Business Registries Workshop follows a PACER Plus free trade agreement workshop in Sydney from 27–29 March 2023, which will support Pacific island signatories to implement their investment and trade obligations.

Discussions at the Pacific Business Registries Workshop.

PSDI is an ADB technical assistance program undertaken in partnership with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. PSDI supports ADB's 14 Pacific DMCs to improve the enabling environment for business and to achieve inclusive, private sector-led economic growth.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

NZCO is the New Zealand government agency responsible for administering many of the country’s statutory registers. NZCO aims to make doing business in New Zealand easy, and to be the authoritative source of information about businesses.