Procedures, time, cost of doing business in country reduced

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FE Report
The government has reduced procedures, time and cost to start a business, simplifying registration formalities by 12 per cent, according to Doing Business 2009,' released in a workshop Wednesday.
The study said the procedures, time and cost were reduced by eliminating the requirement that lawyers would have to verify memorandum and articles of association.
The two-day workshop 'Business Registration Reforms in South Asia' disclosed that name clearance and registration services in the country are now done in one day, which previously took minimum seven days or more.
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan inaugurating the workshop said the government has a
plan to make the office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) one of the top revenue earning agencies of the government, to be digitised within this year.
He said the government has been working to resolve the staffing constraints of RJSC, modernise its office premises and boost the efficiency and transparency of its client services.
"In the light of international best practices, we are exploring ways so that RJSC can retain a portion of its fees and it earns for the government through which it will further strengthen its human resources and institutional capacity," the commerce minister said.
He expressed the hope that RJSC would maintain and sustain the currently launched automation system after Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund was exhausted. He also expects that it would learn and share experiences of reforms in the region.
Jointly organised by Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) and Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) of IFC with support of Department for International Development (DFID) and European Commission (EC), the workshop was also addressed by BICF Senior Programme Manager and Acting Head Syed Akhtar Mahmood. IFC representative Aminur Rahman moderated the inaugural session.
IFC, a member of the World Bank group, is helping train South Asian governments on how to improve the business-registration process, which is critical for the overcall functioning of the business environment, especially in times of economic slowdown.
The workshop is being attended by top officials from business registration authorities in South Asia and experts from across the globe.