BEDIA wants more powers in new law

Much of the review will affect Part V of the BEDIA Act which spells out the functions, powers and duties of the organisation. Malesu said the idea is to give BEDIA powers to negotiate deals and "seal them with potential investors without having to refer them to government".

Another area is work and residence permits. Malesu said between 2003 and February 2008, BEDIA was given two Statutory Instruments empowering it to process work and residence permits for chief executives, finance managers, production managers, quality development managers, operations managers and marketing managers.