One year after its launch, the ground-breaking and business environment-shifting Baghdad online window for company registrations - servicing entrepreneurs across Iraq - is delivering significant results.
The number of people registering businesses in Iraq has been climbing month-on-month. In September and October 2022 the number of companies opened was triple the number of registrations in the first two months of the system going live, one year ago, on 8 November 2021.
The online "single-window" system simplifies a process that initially took 35 separate steps and multiple in-person visits into one that can be completed with a few clicks - or 5 easy steps - on an entirely contactless registration, regulation and reporting portal.
The tool is helping everyone, but also those who wouldn't normally be able to start a business easily like women and young people, to quickly establish and go about their business without too many cumbersome processes up front; and it’s delivering results.
Now seven Iraqi agencies offer their services online through the single window. Since launching the window in November 2021, a total of 2,485 businesses have been opened.
The majority of the business owners opening businesses come from Iraq (95%) however a portion of them come from Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
“This exciting scale is indicative of the demand for an online tool and platform to help would-be business owners open up a company, quickly, efficiently and without too much administrative heavy lifting,” says Bita Mortazavi, Iraq project manager for UNCTAD's business facilitation programme, a partner in the initiative.
While a story of the numbers, the intangible impacts also need to be counted, says Ms. Mortazavi.
This includes the impact of an online tool on women entrepreneurs who often have less time to operate their businesses due to family obligations; and young people who do not often have the resources to open companies.
While only 7% of those opening businesses are women, the single window is a major asset for women entrepreneurs like Sanaa Abdel Rahim Shakeel, because of the time and cost-saving advantages.
Ms. Shakeel was inspired to start Qobat Al Iraq ( قبة العراق ) General Trading so she could create a project that would benefit her directly. The company imports goods - mainly clothing - from abroad and employs two people full time.
She opened up Qobat Al Iraq on business.mot.gov.iq within minutes and said the registration process was seamless and empowering. “It was a good experience on a properly organized website that is easy to access. It's a good initiative to keep developing and building on in the future.”
She added that the process helped her solve many business administration issues that require effort. It shortened the time it takes to get registered and took care of any follow up process directly on the internet, in addition to e-payment, she said.
“A tool like this is good for entrepreneurship,” Ms. Shakeel says, adding that women should take bold steps by establishing projects, working for their own benefit, improving their work and themselves, and empowering other Iraqi women to achieve their goals.
Iraq on the ease-of-doing-business map
Today the Baghdad online single window, servicing most new Iraqi business owners, is the only channel to apply for local company creation.
It has modernized and simplified what it takes to open a business in Baghdad – where most of the middle-eastern nation’s economic activity takes place.
The overall project to establish both an online business information (eRegulations) and an online single window for company registration in Baghdad has been called a “major success” by partners; which include UNCTAD, the governments of Iraq and the United States, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network.
Iraq is now among the top best 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.
“The simple online process was achieved without needing to change current laws and regulations - a major achievement,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “It has also transformed the role of public servants, from that of administrative paper-pushers to empowered problem-solvers who will continue to help fuel the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
The Iraqi government and agencies have been empowered by tools which show them the complexity of procedures and a methodology to simplify them, without changing the rules. They also 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.