It is nothing personal against the hardware company, Wilco. Their business license was not renewed because the company had not made a full disclosure about its ownership, something which is required under the law.

To get things into perspective, the issuance of the business license can still go ahead, provided the full disclosure of its ownership. It does not matter who owns the company, as long as this information is disclosed. It is also a wonder why the company does not just come forward and do this?

Wilco is owned by China National Building Material Co Ltd. The parent company of China National Building Material is China National Building Material Group (established in 1984), is a Chinese state-owned enterprise administered by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

MCIL company registry records show that Wilco Samoa was registered on 22 May 2024, and its country of origin is Vanuatu. Its business activity is listed as “retail trade only” and has three directors: Yuqing Chen with his residential address in Shenzhen City, China, Daliang Qin with residential address in Port Vila, Vanuatu and Ruilai Song with residential address in Guangdong, China.

According to Vanuatu Financial Service Commission documents, Wilco Company's business activities include “retailers and wholesalers, cafe services, hire purchase, import and export goods without transforming them.”

Wilco Limited in Vanuatu also lists the same three directors as Wilco Samoa and shareholders are “China National Building Material Investment Co. Ltd (900 shares) and CNBMI Logistics Company (100 shares)”.

Minister for Customs and Deputy Prime Minister, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio, said it was following the review of the business license that they discovered it has a Chinese state-owned company backing.

“A business license renewal is not automatic; it still goes through the process, and we do our checks as per our regulation, and then we make a decision to renew or not,” said Tuala.

Tuala noted this was a serious concern and why the government passed the Beneficial Owner regulation three years ago to ensure full disclosure of those financial and controlling the business of a foreign company or non-citizen in Samoa from overseas.

Furthermore, he pointed out requirements by the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) to disclose ultimate beneficial owners, and when people don’t reveal this, it was up to the government to do thorough checks.

“We are not just talking about medical and background checks on police records,” he said.

“We need to look at their business activities in the past whether they were bankrupt or who is behind the business and its important in our efforts to get out of the blacklist, which is something I am involved with at the moment with SIFA and MCR.

“All those efforts would be in vain if we provide FIC (Foreign Investment Certificate) to companies we don’t fully understand.

“As far as the Ministry is concerned, for tax purposes and with our business license laws, which is the regulation of declaring ultimate owners is we will not issue a renewal to Wilco… It's nothing personal, it’s the law.”

Local operators strongly opposed Wilco's establishment, flagging unfair competition against the company, which had the Chinese government as its major shareholder. To this, Tuala said it goes against the principles of the World Trade Organisation. The company has ticked all the boxes except one.

This is the same as not allowing a clothing company to sell its product at cheaper prices because a local company selling the same thing at a higher price says to protects the local investment. If this is done, then the public is forced to dish out more money and local companies can continue jacking up prices because there is no competition. Competition will be good for the people, and if people do not want to buy from the overseas company, they will go to the local one.

The parent company of Wilco is a recognised international player dealing with countries like Britain and Ukraine. They are reputable and not dodgy. That is why it is hard to understand why the full disclosure has not been made.

The Ministry of Customs and Revenue has to be commended for sticking to principles and demanding that the company follow the law and fulfil all its requirements. This is the type of practice that is needed to ensure the right type of foreign investment and hopefully, lead towards Samoa being taken of the EU blacklist.