IPA TO DE-REGISTER 5000 COMPANIES By Denyse Kalau, NBC News PNG.  ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Over 5,000 companies are on the list to be de-registered for not filing an annual return since 2000. The Investment Promotion Authority or IPA confirmed this with NBC News, saying the deadline for these companies to comply was on the 16th of January 2020. It is a requirement by the Companies Office that companies’ records are up to date for the purposes of effective correspondences between the Office of the Registrar of Companies and the individual companies. The IPA conducted an awareness campaign last year, in a bid to get companies who had outstanding Annual Returns to submit their Returns, to avoid de-registration, when this exercise is finally rolled out. Acting Registrar of Companies Business Registration & Certification Harriet Kokiva revealed that the list of companies which had not complied with the notice of intention to de-register on 7 November 2019, is being finalized. She added that a notice of removal will be published next week in the newspapers and the National Gazette. NBC News- Denyse Kalau Ends//