Fiji: New e-Government System To Benefit Investors

New e-government system to benefit investors

Government is currently implementing the e-government master plan which will greatly benefit foreign investors, says Mr Tom Ricketts the Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism and Communication.

While briefing the delegates of Taiwan Trade and Investment Mission yesterday at the Fiji Trade Investment Board in Suva Mr Ricketts said the new system would basically move towards providing government services on-line.

"The plan has 14 components, and the pilot project for this is what is known as the investment approvals tracking system," Mr Ricketts told the delegates.

He said the new system would also allow the foreign investors to submit their applications for foreign investment registration on-line.

"It will also allow foreign investors to track the status of their applications," he said.

Mr Ricketts the other benefits is that the system will spare the investors from tedious waiting time and will also save them from repeated trips to the Fiji Trade Investment Board.

"The benefits of this system for foreign investors are that it will reduce both waiting time and the number of physical trips to FTIB and reduce pre-establishment business costs," he highlighted.

The Minister for trade said overall the new system would portray a positive image for the Fiji Government.

"Coincidentally, this system will be rolled out this week and will be officially launched this Thursday," Mr Ricketts said.

Meanwhile he said in terms of investment, there are specific incentives in place for certain industries as well as general investment incentives.

However, Mr Ricketts said there are bottlenecks in Fiji's broader investment approvals process, which will be addressed by the Government.

"Again, this is an area of concern for us and we are putting measures in place to address this," he said.

The Minister informed the delegates that his Ministry is working closely with the registrar of companies in Fiji to streamline the business name and company registration process.

"The initial phase involves the digitalization of all records kept at the office of the registrar of companies.

"Once completed, it is envisaged that search for business and companies' names can be done on line and in future, business name and company registration as well," Mr Ricketts said.

ENDS

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