Tunisia plans to fully digitise the National Business Register (NBR) by the end of 2024, Prime Minister Najla Bouden announced at the opening of the second meeting of the Alliance Francophone des Registres du Commerce held in Tunisia from 19 to 21 June. This initiative was led by the NBR. "To date, the National Business Register is about 60% digitised, using digital tools such as visible electronic stamps and electronic signatures," the Prime Minister said via VTC. In this context, Bouden stressed that Tunisia has been engaged for several years in a digital transformation process that extends to the business ecosystem and includes specific sectors such as banking, online payments and the streamlining of foreign trade procedures. Bouden underlined the importance of this meeting, which focuses on the establishment of registers of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), a crucial aspect in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit financial flows. She recalled that Tunisia established a UBO register in 2019, which was evaluated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). "This evaluation was considered satisfactory in 2021, attesting to the strength and effectiveness of Tunisia's measures against money laundering, terrorism financing and financial transparency of legal entities." The meeting will also address the digitisation of registries, which plays a key role in improving the business climate and attractiveness of the country. It aims to establish greater cooperation between different registries and to share best practices and experiences, including those of Belgium and Quebec, she added. Bouden announced that a scientific symposium on the topic of "Ultimate Beneficial Owner" will be organised in September 2023 by the Tunisian NBR in collaboration with the University of Tunis and the European Union. The aim is to enrich teaching and promote scientific research. Tunisia is also planning to host an investment conference in early November 2023 to showcase the country's favourable business climate and numerous investment and partnership opportunities in the public, private and public-private sectors. NBR Director General Adel Chouari highlighted the digitisation of NBR services over the past four years to reduce costs, streamline procedures and speed up business registration. According to Chouari, the full digitisation of NBR services also depends on the digitisation of its environment, including the digitisation of services provided by NBR partners. He added that the aim of this meeting was to create a network within the Francophone area to identify means of cooperation and partnership, to determine the level of digitisation of business registries and to facilitate the exchange of data and information in order to improve trade flows between member states. This meeting, attended by representatives from 23 countries, is part of Tunisia's ongoing efforts to create a framework that brings together Francophone commercial registries. The Alliance Francophone des Registres du Commerce (Francophone Alliance of Commercial Registries) was created in November 2022, in the margins of the Francophonie Summit in Djerba. The creation of the NBR is in line with the government's e-Gov programme, which aims to achieve efficient administration, simplified procedures and shorter response times. It is also part of the national strategy to improve the business climate, based on the "Doing Business" approach, which includes 185 approved measures currently being implemented.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse