The Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) is well advanced in upgrading its website to facilitate online registration of new companies and business names, State Minister for Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, has informed.

Making her contribution to the 2012/13 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on July 18, the Minister said “this re-development work is now 80 per cent complete."

Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahamssaid the Government, through the COJ, has been working to improve business registration in Jamaica, which is one of the critical measures being employed to raise the country’s ease of doing business ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report.

She said one of the key indicators used by the World Bank report is the time taken to register a business, noting that statistics show that the countries which tend to have the most improved rankings undertook initiatives, such as creating one-stop shops, abolishing or reducing minimum capital requirements, simplifying registration formalities, cutting or simplifying post-registration procedures and introducing online procedures.

In light of this, the State Minister informed that the COJ has also moved to develop a single business registration form (super-form), allowing for the collection of all information required by all the Government of Jamaica agencies and departments involved in business start-up at one point.

“The COJ will collect all the information and, in turn, disseminate it electronically to the various departments and agencies. Registration approvals for the various statutory payments will then be transmitted to the Companies Office and indicated in the Certificate of Registration generated by it,” she explained.

The State Minister said this strategy will prevent those registering businesses from having to make multiple visits to these various agencies and departments, which is “a big step forward for business registration in Jamaica.” She said completion of this particular project is scheduled for January 2013.

By Alecia Smith-Edwards, JIS Reporter