Portal Makes It Easy to Do Business in Jamaica

The National Business Portal (NBP) has made doing business in Jamaica much easier by allowing businesses and individuals to go online and follow, in a simplified way, the steps involved in conducting business in Jamaica.

In an interview with JIS News, Manager for Policy and Business Advocacy at Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Kelli-Dawn Hamilton, said the idea of a business portal came about in 2016 amid a number of things happening across the government and within private sector to improve efficiency.

“There was a call from various sectors… in one instance, for more efficiency across government. In another instance, it was for the Government to move towards digitalisation. Within the Government, there was a cry from ministries, departments and agencies that facilitate investments for JAMPRO, to ensure that they are a part of the process very early,” Mrs. Hamilton noted.

“So, the notion of our National Business Portal developed, and it started from that thought, how do we become more efficient? How do we make it easier for persons to do business here in Jamaica? And we are referring to both local and overseas investors as well,” she added.

Mrs. Hamilton said that the Portal, which will change how the Government provides its business services to the public, is being done in phases.

“In the first instance, we would have conceptualised providing information on all the processes related to doing business, and that is our informational hub, which persons can access now. It was launched September 2020 at www.dobusiness.gov.jm,” she said.

The website outlines how to start and close a business.

“We have outlined all the processes from start to closing your business, and everything that comes in-between. So, accessing incentives, accessing government lands, accessing permits… how does one go about getting a building approval? How do you apply for a tax compliance certificate? All of those processes are outlined on the NBP,” Mrs. Hamilton pointed out.

The website also facilitates investors registering their investments.

“What will happen is that JAMPRO will help to direct investors where they need to go. So, if, for example, you have a tourism project that will require intervention by the Ministry of Tourism, approvals from National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), or a Municipal Corporation, then we’re able to direct them to the relevant entities,” Mrs Hamilton said.

“We are able to include the relevant entities in the conversation by way of backend discussion forum, that allows all the pertinent government entities to provide feedback on the project,” she added.

The Manager shared that the next phase is to allow the portal to facilitate transactional processes.

Mrs. Hamilton said that while there are many government processes that the Government of Jamaica wants to put online, there is a need to prioritise due to limited resources.

“In the first round of phase two, we were able to re-engineer eight processes, and these include productive input relief for the tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, health, and the creative industries. Then we also have divestment of crown lands, application for cannabis licence and registration of pharmaceuticals,” she said.

“Those eight processes have already been re-engineered, and we’re currently going through our process of digitalising them and making them transactional on the portal. We will also include film registration in the list of processes to be made available online on the National Business Portal,” Mrs. Hamilton added.

She further explained that in January 2023, persons will be able to go online and complete these transactions, end to end, in the comfort of their business, their home; wherever they are, they will be able to do these processes online.

“So, it’s indeed a game changer for how we do business with the Government,” Mrs. Hamilton said.

JAMPRO is also developing the functional and non-functional requirements for four additional processes to be placed online.

“So, those processes include application for fire permit, application for criminal background check, application for winding up a business, and also filing annual returns with the Companies Office of Jamaica,” Mrs. Hamilton said.

Addressing the benefits of the Portal, the Manager said it will lead to a more efficient way of doing business, as it will result in a reduction in the time it takes to do transactions with the Government.

“It will lead to improved efficiencies for the providers of these services. Ministries, departments and agencies that will be carrying out these processes, less time will be allocated to it, because of how the information will be received. So, instead of taking a manual application, instead of going through a manual document, you’re able now to automate it,” she pointed out.

In the meantime, Mrs. Hamilton said that the Government, outside of the National Business Portal, has been embarking on an effort to reform and to make it easier to carry out various transactions.

“The National Business Portal is part of a larger investment framework, which is the national investment policy, which is seeking to create an enabling environment and create the blueprint for how we facilitate investment, and this goes for local investors as well, in Jamaica,” she noted.

“So, this is part of a larger effort. We’re not doing things in isolation, but the NBP is an exciting part of how the Government is moving to become more modern in the way that it conducts business,” Mrs. Hamilton added.

The NBP is also a part of the GOV.JM, Government of Jamaica modernisation and digitalisation initiative, which was launched in 2017.

“We are putting processes online, not only because it makes doing business easier but we must move our country into another phase of how we do business and how we facilitate businesses and really just bring us into the electronic and information stage of development,” she further noted.

The Foundations for Competitiveness and Growth Project (FCGP) will be funding Phases two and three of the NBP initiative. The FCGP is being implemented by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), in collaboration with JAMPRO and the Development Bank of Jamaica. eGov Jamaica Limited built out Phase one of the portal.

JAMPRO’s mission is to drive economic development through growth in investment and export.

JAMPRO is an agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce.