Investors to register in two hours - URSB

The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has said it will take investors two hours to formally register their businesses, as the country moves to improve service delivery and attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

According to URSB, this is an improvement from the previous four days it took investors to register, while making physical movements from one government department to another.

" We have seen significant improvement in registration time, by working together with other government registration agencies such as KCCA, UIA and the URA," said the registrar general Bemanya Twebaze.

Twebaze was speaking on the sidelines of the Private Sector Development Awards (PSDA) at the Royal Suites hotel, Bugolobi on Thursday.

Private Sector Development Award is an annual initiative of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda that seeks to recognize companies, business associations, entrepreneurs and business groups for their outstanding contribution to the growth of the private sector in Uganda.

During the function, URSB was recorgnised as the Government Agency of the Year 2016, for playing a critical role in the development of the Private Sector in Uganda.

Twebaze said one stop center system has increased formalization of businesses, and made renewal of licenses, permits and other registration requirements efficient for Small and Medium-Sized enterprises.

"It will also help us in attracting more FDI which is an integral component in our economic development through creation of jobs, and improvement in the performance of our GDP," he said.

The Minister of State for Trade Hon Micheal Werikhe said such reforms create an enabling environment for business to thrive.

He said all government departments and ministries should by now be fully integrated on the one stop center system to ease the business registration process.

Recent statistics from the bank of Uganda indicate a reduction of at least $500m (sh1.805trillion) in foreign direct investments, on account of a slowdown in global economies and volatility of the local unit.

However, the country has improved in the ease of doing business, according to a recent World Bank report from position 122 to 115 attributed in part to the business registration process.

The Executive Director Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Gideon Badagawa, noted that "URSB has steadily improved its services and responded to the needs of the private sector, though the one stop center".

He further appreciated the reforms and presented the agency as one of the key implementers in the doing of business reforms in the Country.