The Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) officially announced it will host the Corporate Registers Forum event on the 21st – 25th May 2018 at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC), media stakeholders were told today.
“We are the third hosts of this prestigious conference, which has been held in Africa only twice before – in Cape Town South Africa in 2009 and in Port Louis, Mauritius in 2010. We are expecting more or less 200 delegates from all over the world to join us for the conference, which is expected to provide members with the opportunity to review the latest developments in corporate business registers internationally and to exchange insights on the present and future operations of corporate business registration system,” said Conductor Masena, CIPA Registrar General.
He said, “The Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) is an international body consisting of corporate registries from around the globe, which exists to allow member organizations to share experiences and information on the present and future operations of corporate registration systems.”
The CRF currently has over 60 member countries with Botswana being a member represented by CIPA. Organizations that provide services to corporate registries, including Information technology organizations also form part of the CRF community.
Other stakeholders of the CRF include the European Corporate Registers Forum (ECRF), the International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACVA) as well as the World Bank.
Being a member of the CRF allows CIPA to bench mark with other efficient business registration institutions like New Zealand which will help Botswana implement the much anticipated Companies and Business Names online registry, which is expected to roll out during the course of the year once appropriate Bills are passed by the current sitting of Parliament.
“The ease of doing business is a national priority under Pillar 1 of Vision 2036, which seeks to achieve sustainable economic development for the country through making Botswana a destination of choice for investment,” said Masena.
