Minister of International Business and Industry, Ronald Toppin, has assured users of the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office’s (CAIPO) new digital Corporate Registry that it would be continually monitored to ensure that doing business would be convenient, fast, agile and transparent.
He was speaking at the “going live” launch of the first phase of CAIPO’s Corporate Registry Digitalisation Project. The new online platform, which is accessible via https://caipo.gov.bb, facilitates an entirely digital transaction from application to certification for the registration of business names and the incorporation of companies and charities.
Emphasising he was elated with the digital transformation, Minister Toppin pointed out that this type of efficiency was essential, as all businesses and commercial activities on the island must commence, or interact, with the Corporate Registry.
“For Barbados to be competitive as a jurisdiction of choice in the international business sector and for international and local investments to abound, it is critical that a level of efficiency be attained in the Corporate Registry’s operations. And when we say, ‘level of efficiency’, we are referring to the significant reduction that is required in the timelines for the completion of the services presently being performed by CAIPO.
“Factors such as the ease with which companies can be incorporated and registered; the time involved with the completion of all post-incorporation and registration transactions, as well as related matters for the setting up of business operations, all redound to an environment that is more conducive to doing business in Barbados and are of tremendous importance to potential investors and business persons,” he stated.
Minister Toppin acknowledged that digital transformation is driven by customers’ needs, and stressed that the Ministry and CAIPO had listened to the concerns of stakeholders with regards to the old paper based system. Furthermore, he announced that there would be ongoing digitalization plans.
“We are launching the first phase of this system, which focuses on starting a business, while the work has already started on Phase 2, which will encompass the post-registration processes. The benefits to both users and the Government include cost-efficiencies, increased speed of completing transactions, and accessibility to and availability of information, all calculated to improve our global competitive rating….
To this end, not only are we transforming the Corporate Registry, but in the area of International Business, we are also implementing an IT-driven Business Licensing Systems Software to re-engineer the licensing processes within the International Business Unit. These measures will not only significantly improve the way we do business, but will also improve the country’s overall economic performance,” he said.