Regional Chamber Advocacy Forum seeks solutions :

For registering small businesses

The Regional Chamber Advocacy Forum is discussing the existing problems in registering small businesses, and planning a methodical system to enable them to be registered quickly and easily. A discussion on this was held recently, with the technical support from the Asian Foundation.

This meeting chaired by the Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon was organized by the Anuradhapura Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Director P.B. Dissanayake, under the advice of the Asian Foundation Program Manageress Niroshini Nayagam.

A large number of Provincial Chamber of Commerce Heads attended this meeting.

The Anuradhapura District Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Director P.B. Dissanayake said: “The basic foundation of the Sri Lankan economy is small enterprises. Almost 80 percent of all the enterprises in the country come under the category of small enterprises. But, over 50 percent of these small enterprises have not been registered. One of the main reasons for this is the difficulties in registering a small business. A private limited liability company could be registered without any hassle, within a very short period of time.

But, registering a small enterprise takes a long time. Documents have to be obtained from a large number of individuals and organizations. The Regional Chamber Advocacy Forum is in the process of developing a methodical system to overcome these difficulties and register small enterprises within a short period of time, without any hassle.

During the preliminary discussions held with the Local Government Minister, the Heads of the Provincial Chambers of Commerce requested the Minister to formulate a system to enable registering of small enterprises in one place in one district.

The Minister agreed to the request.