Toribiong said the he was surprised by the Senate’s action in rejecting the conference committee version of the bill.
He said the conference committee report should have reflected the Senate leadership’s view on the measure. A complete turnaround as reflected on the voting , is surprising.“By killing the bill they did not advance the economic development of Palau,” Toribiong told reporters.“ I hope that the Senate action is not based on conflict of interests, “ he said.“Maybe they want to protect their businesses but I want to increase the tax- base,” he stresses.The president said that if the senator has a business that he believes should be protected, it should have been specified in the final version of the measure.He said killing the bill puts Palau in further economic slowdown. Palau he said is suffering from an economic crisis, tourism is down, tax revenues are going down and that more Palauans are moving outside the country to seek greener pastures, he cited .He said another sign of economic slowdown is an increased rate in burglary incidents and shipment of merchandise going down among others.The president said although he respects the decision of the Senate, the senators have a moral obligation to come up with a new investment law.The conference committee version of the foreign investment measure approved by both Houses of the Olbiil Era Kelulau did not get enough votes from the Senate.The voting was 6-6, a majority vote of the present senators is needed to pass the conference committee version.Senators voting against the version said that the measure does not adequately protect the local businessmen.The purpose of House Bill No. 8-3-1, HD3, SD5, CD1 is to attract and encourage foreign investment in Palau in order to create a more broad based and sustainable economy.President Toribiong originally introduced the measure that seeks to make the business climate in Palau more foreign investor friendly after removing several restrictions for foreign investments stated in the existing law.Toribiong’s bill also wants to abolish the existing Foreign Investment Board to avoid it being political.The conference committee version however did not want to abolish the board but instead put the responsibility to an agency called Foreign Investment Authority.The conference version though gives power to the Authority but it will only have review rights over PFI charters that are issued to PFI corporations that are less than 51 percent owned by Palauan citizens.
