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The meeting brought together several members of the private and public sector for their experience and expertise.
Attendees included: several business associations, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT), Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), Ministry of Industry and Trade(MIT), and Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
The meeting started with an introduction of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA) and Sawtouna. It was then followed by the goal and objectives of the Sawtouna paper. The majority of the meeting discussed the status of the e-registration system that will be launched on January 1, 2010 and the challenges of e-signatures and e-payments.
In 2007, an e-registration project was launched for vocational licensing between GAM and MoICT. The project was created due to the 80,000 vocational licenses that are renewed annually in Amman.
Approximately a thousand people a day renew their license, thereby congesting and slowing down the vocational licensing system. An electronic solution is now being set in place to ensure convenience for the licensee and efficiency for the registration.
Two main obstacles challenge e-registration. The first is the company signature and second is the payment methods. Within the Companies Law, the partners of a given company must sign in front of the CCD or a lawyer when renewing. Currently, there is no provision for e-signatures. To address this issue, the MoICT is currently working on electronic ID and certificate authentication online.
As for payments, the Ministry of Finance has established an infrastructure for e-payments; however the legal framework for MIT and other institutions is still not set. Another matter regarding online payment is the additional fee for the e-payment gateway.
Sawtouna submitted a variety of recommendations for the issues discussed throughout the meeting. Recommendations included: a legal review of the Companies Law to allow electronic authentication; a review of the total fees for GAM and MIT to calculate a discount for any additional online payment transaction costs; to offer an incentive of lower fees for citizens using the e-payment method to increase penetration rates; to promote e-registration and the payment process with a marketing and promotional campaign.
Mr. Ayman Azzeh, Director of the YEA, stated:
"To successful launch a new system it is essential to bring together all relevant parties and resources to discuss the details of implementation. By sharing our expertise and experiences we are able to predict and address upcoming obstacles. This will give us a jumpstart to an efficient electronic business registration and e-government system. I would like to thank all parties for attending, participating and adding insight to the project."
Posted by Rana Mesbah
