Corporate Registries share ideas on ease of doing business.

The 16th Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) conference hosted by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has brought to light some of the interventions undertaken by registries to support business operations amidst COVID-19.

Among these is free business registration for vulnerable persons as presented by the Malaysia Registry. The registry undertook this initiative which witnessed an increase in business formalization as a result of the intervention. The registry also exempted fines for non-compliant companies for a period of time.

On the other hand, the Singapore Registry leveraged on technology to provide seamless registration services as well as establishing a start-up guide and providing e-advisors to literally walk people through the registration process.

These presentations were delivered during the opening of the CRF conference yesterday at the Kampala Serena Hotel.

Hosted under the theme, ‘Ease of doing Business: The role of Corporate Registries,’ the three-day event is being held virtually with over 250 participants from member states from Africa, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Europe.

While delivering the opening remarks on behalf of the Attorney General, the Director Legal Advisory Services John Bosco Suuza noted that corporate registries have found need to generate possible reforms.

“Corporate Registries have found themselves with a need to generate reforms as much as they can; which makes this year’s theme even more fitting. Uganda as a country also needs to grow its technology and leapfrog along with it as companies and registries embrace the ‘new normal’,” Suuza said.

He further appreciated the role played by corporate registries in formalizing the economies across the world.

Speaking at the same event, the Deputy Registrar General, Alex Anganya reiterated that URSB had embraced electronic transactions as the new normal.

“Today, we have achieved over 70% adoption of e-services, right from about 30% prior to the pandemic. This is in line with the URSB ‘All digital All online’ strategy that is currently being implemented to limit physical interactions and have all services online,” Anganya noted.

In a panel discussion about the benefits of embracing big data and artificial intelligence, Vivek Meena from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India presented the experience on use of artificial intelligence and Block chain technology in registration of businesses.

The discussion was led by Noah Baalessanvu a Cryptographer and Robert Kirunda a Legal Practitioner from Uganda

The Corporate Registers Forum is an association that brings together business registries across the world with an aim of providing members with the opportunity to review the latest developments in corporate business registers internationally and exchange experiences and information on the present and future operation of corporate business registration systems.

The idea of establishing an association that brings together corporate registries was started in a discussion in the companies’ registries of New Zealand in 1999.