MOIC LAUNCHES BLIS COMMERCIAL LICENSING MADE EASY, PAPERLESS

Manama 

 Taking a major leap into the world of paper-less transactions, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) under the guidance of Minister Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani has launched its Business Licensing Integrated System (BLIS) which would now convert all commercial licensing process paper-less by integrating all relevant government organizations under one system. 

 The new system, which operates round-the-clock, seven days a week and available on bahrain.bh, was developed in cooperation with the eGovernment Authority (eGA), and other relevant governmental entities.

 The launch, held on Tuesday at the ministry’s premises, was also attended by eGovernment Authority’s Vice CEO Dr. Zakareya Ahmed Al Khaja, Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs Nader Khalil Al Moayyed , Assistant Undersecretary for Domestic Trade Hameed Rahma and project members.

 With the launch of the new system, the old traditional process is eliminated and during this phase, the ministry will streamline the transfer of the current database to the new system with newly added features. 

 Stressing the importance of co-operation amongst all related government entities to ensure the success of the new system, Alzayani said that BLIS also directly impacts the overall expenditure of the budget by reducing the expenses required for paper, transportation and estimated manpower to process the applications. 

 The move, according to MOIC, will reduce time required for obtaining commercial registrations and other business-associated license by reducing the need to visit the Investors Centre or other governmental organizations. 

According to the MOIC, the system will automatically communicate with applicants via emails or SMS text messaging to inform them of the license’s issuance stages and provide them with all necessary information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

 BLIS will provide all the conditions, procedures, laws and regulations related to acquiring business licenses for over 1,800 business activities. 

 This includes a summary of the business environment in the Kingdom of Bahrain, trade name reservation process, different legal forms of entities and registration requirements, as well as an overview of the corporate governance. 

BLIS also provide services related to business activities such as company name, change of address, addition or deletion of a partner, along with the ability to amend authorized signatories. 

The team behind the project has liaised with over 20 government entities to compile all necessary information, rules and regulations required for obtaining commercial licenses of around 1,800 business activities including activities listed under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.