Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, has lauded the implementation of the Electronic Business Registration Form (eBRF), the online portal for the registration of businesses, with the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) an agency of the Ministry.
Minister Green was speaking at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on August 7. He stated that the launch of the online portal is a critical step in the right direction in fulfilling the country’s collective vision to ensure that each community is moved from poverty to prosperity, also providing support especially to our micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). He noted further that the eBRF ties into the bigger picture of having our informal entrepreneurs coming into the formal sector.
“We are an entrepreneurial people, on every street corner, in every nook and cranny, there is someone right now sharing a business idea.” “Our responsibility as a government, therefore, is to be able to provide those platforms that can transform those business ideas into businesses that can move communities and families forward.”
Minister Green says the COJ and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) will be partnering to ensure access to company registration services. Kiosks will be placed in JBDC offices to ensure that after receiving business training and advice, MSMEs can be registered on the eBRF right away with the agency’s guidance. The kiosks will also ensure that rural Jamaica has the same access to the COJ services.
“This will really facilitate the formality of the sector, giving access to our people all across Jamaica. The ease of registering a business is what is really needed to drive this sector forward. We still have much more to do as we have to now work to ensure that our charities can also access the service,” Minister Green added.
The eBRF will allow entrepreneurs to register their business at their own convenience from anywhere in the world and is part of the Government’s Public Sector Transformation and Modernization Programme aimed at making it easier to do business in Jamaica.
It is a multi-purpose registration form available via the Companies Office of Jamaica website, replacing the paper form and continuing the cross-functional operation with other Government agencies. The online platform will also facilitate the online payment for registrations using debit or credit cards.
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The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce is described as Jamaica's "Business Ministry." It's mandate is to lead the development of policies that will create growth and jobs, while achieving social inclusion and consumer protection. The Ministry, working its stakeholders is primarily responsible for business policy development, monitoring and evaluation, while giving direction and oversight to a cluster of implementing departments and agencies.
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