KUCHING: A pilot project aimed at facilitating business licence applications and renewals will be implemented in various areas in Sarawak.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian explained that this initiative followed challenges in obtaining business licences.
“Currently, processes and procedures for obtaining business licences in Sarawak are not uniform between divisions and burdensome across multiple agencies, both federal and state, and the application process for approval is therefore time-consuming.
“In Kuching, queues currently start early in the morning just to get the numbers for business licence application renewal,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Looking forward, Dr Sim, who is also the Minister of Public Health, Housing, and Local Government, said that the pilot project would involve 13 local authorities (PBT) in four divisions, namely, Kuching, Sri Aman, Sibu and Miri.
He added the role and responsibility of managing the applications for business name registration and trade licences would be transferred ultimately to the PBT in the four divisions.
“Among those involved are the Bau District Council, Lundu District Council, Kuching South City Council, Kuching North City Hall, Padawan Municipal Council, Sri Aman District Council, and Lubok Antu District Council.”
“Additionally, it includes Sibu Municipal Council, Sibu Rural District Council, Kanowit District Council, Miri City Council, Subis District Council, and Marudi District Council,” he said.
As such, Dr Sim expressed gratitude to the Malaysian Ministry of Finance for agreeing to temporarily empower the Sarawak government for business name registration and trade licences during the Regulation Experiment (RE) Project implementation.
He also acknowledged the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) and the Premier’s Transformation and Innovation Unit (UniTI) Department for initiating this project.
