The businesses extend their gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister for his keenness and personal intervention by bringing the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism on one page with regard to CR fee structure.
The new fee structure for the CR fee is BD 50 on up to two activities and BD100 on three activities and BD100 will be added on each additional activity in the CR. For the past one year there has been a heated debate on the proposed hike in the CR fee structure with BD100 on each activity and BD1000 on construction sector licensing etc. However, the MoICT had been defending its decision by saying that even the proposed new fee structure Bahrain is competitive within the GCC on doing business in term of cost.
Following the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa the Prime Minister on reaching a consensus regarding the proposed CR fees, and the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister underlining the importance of working in line with the government’s strategy stressing sustainable development, the BCCI held numerous joint meetings with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism to deliberate on the subject.
Sameer Nass, Chairman of the BCCI board of directors highlighted the salient feature of the decision during a Press conference along with Zayed Al Zayani, the Minister of MoICT revealed that the Chamber has formed an action group headed by the second vice-chairman Mohammed Al Kooheji responsible for conducting a study that aims at analyzing the impact of the proposed inflated CR fees on business owners and the vigor of doing business in Bahrain. He underlined that the study incorporated the input from a questionnaire and the feed from the roundtable discussions it held with business owners.
“Of the total CRs in Bahrain, 83.24 per cent are involved in running 1 to 3 business activities, while the remaining 16.76 per cent run more than three business activities. “According to the study, 89% of CR holders rejected the hiked fees, explaining that the hike is unjustifiable and does not take into consideration the sizes and financial competence of the entities.”
The outcomes of the study reaffirmed that the proposed CR fees are exaggerated, and that the market -at this time cannot absorb any additional fees or financial burdens. The study also demonstrated the business owners’ concern regarding the oversized fees, which they consider as a threat to the profitability and sustainability of their businesses.
The Chamber held a total of 30 intensive meetings with the bodies of concern to implementing the proposed C.R fees including joint meetings with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism. BCCI deliberated about the study it conducted, its outcomes and recommendations in a bid to reach a consensus with the relevant bodies prior to the end of the given grace period ending in October this year.
The Chairman said that the initial proposal of the chamber was to keep the new fees within the range of neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries at BD 100 for new Commercial Registrations and BD 75 for the renewal of the Commercial Registration.
However, and following lengthy deliberations a consensus was reached, according to which the fees for new Commercial Registrations will be BD 50 with BD 100 for up to 3 activities, any additional business activities will be charged BD 100 each.
Nass reiterated BCCI’s keenness on empowering the private sector and advocating its interests, and hailed the government on its cooperation with the Chamber and its fruitful partnership with the private sector.
