REGISTER YOUR BUSINESSES, SAYS MINISTER OF COMMERCE

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

THE cost of Registering businesses has been lowered therefore business owners should take advantage and ensure their businesses are registered, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Chipoka Mulenga has said.

Early this year the Government reduced fees for services under the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) in a bid to lower the cost of business operations in Zambia.

Speaking with The Scoop, Mr. Mulenga said company registration had been simplified as challenges that arose from the bureaucracy that limited Zambians from having their companies registered had been addressed.

He said the Government remained committed to ensuring that more Zambians easily set up businesses that would contribute to national development.

“One of the hindrances among Zambian business owners was the long processes and cost of registering a company but now the bureaucracy involved in registering a company has been removed and many business owners, who even include students, can now register their companies,” Mr. Mulenga said.

He said that before the simplification of the registering of companies, business owners had to pay so much money just to register a company, which some of the businesses ended up failing in the registration process.

He said that the Government’s desire was to see more Zambian business grow as the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector continues to be a pillar of national development.

 “The registration process needs to be more enhanced for all citizens so that more businesses can be set up. We are talking about businesses which will create revenue, decent jobs, and decent taxes that go into the national treasury,” he said.

He further reaffirmed the Government’s commitment towards putting up measures aimed at enhancing access to finance by SMEs with the view to grow into more viable business ventures.