SITUATION
Prior to 2020, registering a business in Baghdad was a cumbersome task with loopholes that opened the doors to corruption. The process required an entrepreneur to take 35 separate steps, make multiple in-person visits to various government offices, and pay a variety of fees at different times to different entities.
APPROACH
A "single-window" system – business.mot.gov.iq – was implemented to simplify the business registration process and reduce opportunities for corruption. The system replaced the multi-step, multi-payment process with an online portal that allows founders to create businesses entirely online, with no in-person visits to government offices and just a few clicks – or five easy steps – from a web browser.
With this system, founders register businesses with five mandatory registries using one single form, one set of documents and one single payment. It reserves the business name with the Chamber of Commerce of Baghdad and the Iraqi Federation of Chambers of Commerce; registers it with the Company Registry, and provides the entrepreneur with a tax and social security number.
The system is the result of collaborative efforts by the Global Entrepreneurship Network, UNCTAD, and the governments of Iraq and the United States.
IMPACT
Iraq is now among the top-rated countries globally for ease of business registration, alongside Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Kenya, Oman and Sweden. It scores 10/10 across all dimensions of the Global Entrepreneurship Registration ranking of online business registration services.
Within its first year of operation, 2,485 businesses opened. The majority of individuals opening businesses are from Iraq (95%), however the system has also enhanced the ease at which foreign entrepreneurs are opening companies in the country. A portion of new business registrations have come from Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
While only seven per cent of those opening businesses are women, more women and young people like 29-year-old Saja al-Bayati, are starting companies. The single window is a major asset for women entrepreneurs because of the time and cost-saving advantages.
“I read all the details about the one single window portal, submitted all my papers, and paid the registration fees online by card payment without needing a lawyer,” she said. “It was the first government e-service I ever experienced and it was great.”
Another entrepreneur, Sanaa Abdel Rahim Shakeel, who opened her trading business seamlessly on the platform said: “This improves and raises a society's culture and attitude towards these practices, creating momentum and facilitating transactions in government institutions, which is a positive thing. As women in society, we need the government's support to operate at optimum.”
The Iraqi government and its agencies have also been empowered by tools which show them the complexity of procedures and a methodology to simplify them, without changing the rules. They also now have the ability to design user-centric services without the need for IT experts. In response, the Iraq Council of Ministers (COMSEC), wants to automate over 50 services and include all 14 Iraqi provinces in the single window.
“Improving the business environment in Iraq is our top priority,” said Mohammed Honoun, Iraqi deputy minister of trade. “Automation of government sectors is a critical part of that process.”