LEGISLATION WATCH- Supply Ministry pushes legislation to simplify commercial registry: New businesses could soon be registered under one roof under the newly drafted Unified Economic Operators Registry Act, according to a statement carried by state news agency MENA. This bill would merge the five existing registries — the commercial, industrial and commercial agents and mediators registries and the import and export records — into a single register administered by the Supply Ministry’s Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), which would take responsibility for registering all new businesses. The legislation will make its way to cabinet within a few days, the statement notes.

Why this is good news: Currently, all types of companies need to be listed in a nationwide commercial registry database and state the names of their active owners and activities as a first step in the set up process. They then have to list their names under separate databases recording the nation’s manufacturers, importers, exporters, or intermediaries depending on the activities specified in commercial records. This makes for a tedious exercise involving several different government agencies. It also requires them to have in hand a lot of documentation to access any type of government service.