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Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Oman

The Problem

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is responsible for the registration of commercial, industrial and tourism activities and businesses. However the manual registration procedures were complex. The lack of developed and modern electronic system to facilitate the ministerial administrative works further aggravated the inefficient situations. Hence, due to complex workflow processes and bureaucratic red tapes, registration of a company may take months before it was finalized.
Under the manual system, investors who wanted to set up a business would have to complete several registration forms manually. They would have to submit the completed forms together with many other supporting documents. Since, approval for various types of related permits reside with other Ministry/Government Organisations, these made the process even longer and more tedious. Furthermore these approving authorities used their own internal databases, matching data entry and information became very cumbersome as different databases were used and there were lots of data duplication and errors.
In addition, the classifications of the businesses were not unified and standardised among all the ministries including the commercial licenses numbering. New documents were requested for registration of additional branches of an existing business resulting in duplications. There were no geographical classification for the Omani regions and governorates made accessible to all the governmental entities.
The investors registering their businesses have to visit different Ministries and Government Organisations which time consuming and very inconvenience. There was no one single entity which the investors can go to and carry out all the necessary transaction for registering their businesses.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
As part of the Government effort in bringing in foreign investment for the country, one of the initiatives was to ensure that there was a hassle free business registration process. It should also be cost effective and reduce the time needed for business registration. As such, the idea of (the One Stop Shop) emerged, combining different governmental agencies to offer various services to investors.
In 2001, the Ministry started the initiative of establishing (the One Stop Shop) in order to reach the highest level of efficiency at work and ability to serve the investors. This was to be accomplished through gathering the different government entities concerned and studying the ways of work process reengineering in order to get rid of bureaucracy and duplication. The objective is to reduce time and paperwork, and unify and facilitate any fees payment.
In 2003, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry contracted an international company (TATA Consulting) to develop re-engineer the workflow within the Ministry. The study was aimed at evaluating the current procedures, and the infrastructures connected with them and present the appropriate recommendations which will improve the Ministry's performance in order to better serve the needs of the investors and businessmen.
The study focused on the ways of improving the work efficiency, and adopting new practices that fit into the framework of developed solutions.
The study recommended a new system which consists of a technical and a nontechnical element concerning the human resources and the procedures to be executed.
The fundamental element of the new work system is one-stop service, which offers comprehensive services via the internet. In fact, it is the front-end to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Government entities involved in the (the One Stop Shop) are:
1. Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
2. Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources.
3. Ministry of Manpower.
4. Royal Oman Police (Directorate General of Passport & Residence and Directorate General of Civil Defense).
5. Muscat Municipality.
6. Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In the past, the investor had to wait for one month for the commercial registration application to be completed and had to visit each government entity separately in order to get the required approvals for the registration. In some cases, inspections have to be made before the issuance of the registration. In fact, the time required for each application in any concerned entity was two weeks minimum. However, with the introduction of the OSS, each application is processed within one to two working days which save the investor's time and efforts.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the proposer and main implementer of the One Stop Shop Initiative.
To be in sync with the initiative of eGovernment in Oman, the Ministry contracted an Omani company (Gulf Business Machines Co.) in 22nd February 2005 to design, execute and operate the infrastructure of the One Stop Shop.
The aim of this project is to utilize information technology as a tool to gathers the integrate the different entities involved in the One Stop Shop to work as one unit that provides the required approvals related to the commercial registration and industrial and mining licenses. By doing so, it will cut down the time and effort for investors when they are registering a business
Participants:
Following are the stakeholders involved:
Ministry of Commerce and Industry- Information Technology Authority- Ministry of Finance- Ministry of National Economy- Chamber of Commerce and Industry- Ministry of regional Municipalities and Water Resources- Ministry of Manpower- Royal Oman Police- Muscat Municipality- Dhofar Municipality – Gulf Business Machines co.
The Workflow is designed by: TATA Consultants Co. India
The system is developed by: Gulf Business Machines co. Oman

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The objective of such a facility was to provide citizens, entrepreneurs, prospective investors and businesses:
 A faster and more efficient licensing and registration processes entailing a relatively shorter period of time.
 A single entry point for accessing government disseminated information and services online.
 Flexibility with respect to place, time and mode of interaction with the Government.
 Serve by providing easy and multi-channel access.
 A trustworthy safe environment where businesses can conduct secure transactions in confidence.
 Effective and efficient delivery of services in a 24X7X365 manner.
 Bring the government closer to the people through multiple delivery channels such as PCs, Kiosks, telephones, and mobile phones.
 More transparent procedures and the customer should be able to track the status of his/her application.
 A mechanism for easy electronic fee payments.


Implementation Steps and strategies:
With the above in mind, several strategies were formulated from pre launch till when the system goes live.
The Ministry used a strategy of implementing the project in phases. This is to ensure that along the way, the system is tested and improved. It is also important that there are buy in from the users and Ministries Personnel. The phases are as follows:

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
 The First Phase:
The Ministry launched the first phase of the One Stop Shop -the (Website) -in May 2006 with 39 eServices dealing with 'Commercial Registration' of businesses across Oman which is still used by the commercial establishments.

In the first phase, the electronic system of the Department of Investors Services is integrated with the One Stop Shop and in its Regional Offices. In the first phase services related to corporate name reservation, registration of corporate and agencies, renewals, and capitals modification were made available.

This new system limits the streamline the registration procedures to five easy stages:
1. Entry of electronic application
2. Issuance of the approval
3. Receiving the payment documents
4. Paying the fees
5. Receiving the certificate

 The Second Phase:
In the second phase of the project which was launched in November 2007, additional services were added they are:
1. Industrial records and licenses:
a. New license
b. Transformation of activity
c. Expansion
2. Mining permits and licenses:
a. Minerals:
1. Exploration
2. Extraction
3. Landscape reservation
b. Mines:
1. Temporary mining project
2. Mining franchise
3. Mining license

 The Third Phase:
In the third phase of this project which is partially completed, investors will be able to finalize their applications online. All the available eservices can be accessible through:
1. self services at any time and place
2. Transactions clearance offices: (SANAD Kiosk/ Law Firm/ Auditors Offices)
All these offices will be connected to the One Stop Shop in order to facilitate the investors in applying through these offices. Currently there are ten offices already connected to the One Stop Shop for the service of corporate name reservation and work is on progress to connect a number of lawyer offices

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
There were various obstacles in the implementation process most of it has to do with the existing system then. Just to name a few, there was lack of transparency in the documentary procedures. There was an absence of comprehensive classification of the commercial activities. There was duplication of numbers in the mining, industrial and commercial registration.

Most importantly there is a shortage of experience human resources to manage and operate the system. Also there is a fear of change within the various organizations.
When the system was first launched, the stability issues during the initial days created rejection and anxieties among the users. A lot of the initial process issues needed ironing out between the different government agencies. Training of employees and external stakeholders were not sufficient for them to embrace the change over from manual to electronic. Data migrations from the old to the new system had some issues as they are not completely compatible. Then there are the logistics issues, for example , there was no hall in the Ministry that can accommodate the capacity for the increasing number of investors who visit the Ministry to follow up their applications. Thus, a big hall was constructed close to the Ministry's building equipped with ticket machines to organize the queues of applicants. The hall is well equipped with new computers, faxes for the convenience of the investor.

Measures taken to overcome difficulties
MOCI and GBM teamed up together with a task force to deal with issues it involves Daily high level meeting at the end of business day, this involves Under Secretaries, and all the staff involved to discuss daily problems, solution and action plan for the next day. Continuous training and awareness programs were initiated for the frontline staff and personnel involved in the operation and support of the system. To motivate the staff, special recognition and appreciation were introduced. To cope with the increase in the demand for the front office, additional staff were deployed when the demand for the OSS increases. To ensure that the integrity of the data, data cleaning effort was in place to tackle the problem.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Financial Cost
 The total cost till date for the system is summarized below
OSS balance sheet
The Project Total cost OMR
5/2004 2,746,142
11/2007 100,000
11/2008 1,437,329
11/2009 150,000
11/2010 200,000
Total 4,633,4771

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Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
- The Initiative Sustainability:
As the economy of the country developed, there will be increasing inflow of foreign investments. Companies, especially the Multinationals will require hassle free and quick services while at the same time without high expenditure.

We consider the information technology as the most effective weapon in reducing bottleneck and bureaucracy. The financial investment to this initiative contributed positively in the generation of capitals in the country. The results of applying this initiative is clear as there is an increase in the number of application received which reached 200 thousands application per year as of last audit. The registration fees constitute an additional income to the Government and return of investment for the project.

Socially, there is an interconnection between the system and its users as they gain new technical knowledge and are exposed to the electronic alternatives in order to process their transactions. A very clear example for this interaction is the increasing number of users of the system.

Below is the statistic on the usage of the system.
- Number of applications received since the application of the electronic system in 2008:
1. Number of received e-applications: 472477
2. The average per month: 15000
3. Number of e-applications in Muscat: 184072
- Statistics of work achievements in the One Stop Shop in 2008:
1. Number of received e-applications: 221676
2. The average per month: 18473
3. Number of e-applications in Muscat: 81971
- Time average of work completion:
1. Number of applications completed in the same day: 285364
2. Number of applications completed in two days: 11759
3. Number of applications completed in more than two days: 38166

- Statistics of work achievements in the One Stop Shop from the beginning of 2009 till morning 29/12/2009 :
4. Number of received e-applications: 221412
5. The average per month: 19000
6. Number of e-applications in Muscat: 86844
- Time average of work completion in 2009:
4. Number of applications completed in the same day: 159235
5. Number of applications completed in two days: 20660
Number of applications completed in more than two days: 26807

The internet is here to stay as such leveraging on it will ensure the engaging of user at that level.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The initiative is successful as it facilitates the interaction between the investor and the Ministry. By using the electronic system, the investors can process the transactions easily and securely online through the internet and the applications now can be finalized in several working days. Also, the investor receives feedback through SMS and emails about the status of the application.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Khamis Al Farsi
Title:   Investors Services Department Head  
Telephone/ Fax:  
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   kalfarsi@business.gov.om  
Address:  
Postal Code:  
City:  
State/Province:  
Country:   Oman

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