NO NEED OF LICENCE FOR 400 BUSINESSES

MUSCAT: Companies in the Sultanate can now practise more than 400 businesses without the need for a licence, said Ahmed bin Hassan al Dheeb, Under-secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Stating that the Sultanate has jumped 14 notches and topped a number of indices in the World Competitiveness Report 2018, he attributed it to the government’s efforts to simplify procedures and facilitate starting of businesses and restructuring business procedures through the Invest Easy portal.

Procedures for registering trademarks too have been simplified, he said in a statement.

According to him, the country’s No 1 ranking at the Arab level and 17th at the global level in intellectual property in the World Competitiveness Report is due to its intellectual property law and international conventions.

He said the Sultanate came second at the GCC level and 37th at the world level on the Ease of Doing Business Index 2019.

A number of initiatives have been taken to improve Oman’s ranking, including steps taken to develop a roadmap for Invest Easy system, amending the commercial companies law and foreign capital investment law and promulgating insolvency and bankruptcy law.

If the licence needs approval of other organisations, a commercial registration will be issued and the licence will be kept on hold until approval is received.

Meanwhile, the National Office for Competitiveness, in cooperation with the Government Communication Centre, held a panel discussion on the Sultanate’s score in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2019.

Held under the chairmanship of Dr Khalifa bin Abdullah al Barwani, member of the National Commission for Competitiveness, it discussed challenges facing improvement in the country’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index.

The meeting, attended by 17 public organisations, discussed initiatives and procedures that may contribute to improving Oman’s ranking on the index in light of priority attached by the government to improve business environment in the country.

The Sultanate topped a number of indices in the World Competitiveness Report due to the government’s efforts to simplify procedures