10 Mar 2013

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has, through  the cabinet sub-committee on global competitiveness and doing business and the national doing business committee, concluded simplifying the procedures of its reforms.

Trade and Industry assistant minister, Mr Keletso Rakhudu, said this when responding to a question from Okavango MP, Mr Bagalatia Arone.

Mr Rakhudu explained that this was done “with a view to reducing, not only the cost of doing business, but also improving the business and regulatory framework in Botswana.”

To simplify the procedure for licence applications, Mr Rakhudu said the Trade Act, 2003 was amended and indefinite licenses were introduced in September 2011.

He also said in February 2012, the company registration procedures were re-engineered-resulting in the reduction of registration forms from six to two.

The amendment of the Companies Act, he said, was done in May 2011 to allow applicants to register companies without seeking the assistance of a company secretary.

Trade and Industry assistant minister further said in September 2012 an online name search and reservation system was provided. He noted that scanners were introduced at the Tlokweng Border and the Gaborone Container terminal to ease congestion and queues.

In addition, Mr Rakhudu said an integrated taxpayer management system had been introduced and an exclusive office for large tax payers was established.

“The trade arena is very dynamic by nature and my Ministry together with other stakeholders are working on ways through which we will be able to respond to the new ways of doing business,” he added.

In this regard, he said the Ministry was drafting the Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill whose objective was to establish a platform that allowed for online transactions and safety thereof such as e-signing and e-payments.

Other on-going legislative reforms include the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2012, the Data Protection Bill, the Electronic Evidence Bill and the Security Regulations Bill, he said.

Mr Arone wanted the trade and industry minister to appraise the House on progress made in improving the business environment from the regulatory point of view and reducing the cost of doing business, as a key priority for the National Export Strategy. ENDS