The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality, announced launching the Advertising License Service through the Single Window Platform. This step forms part of the efforts to improve and develop services to upgrade the business services system, and contributes to facilitating and speeding up providing these services. Such endeavours support enhancing the investment and trade climate in Qatar.
The Ministry explained that the service in question allowed companies and investors to obtain advertising licenses (temporary, permanent, or annual) from the concerned authorities, to advertise using street/building billboards or vehicle ads. The advertising license is provided within three days, after submitting the application, with the required documents attached, via the Single Window website.
The Advertising Licenses Service complements the Ministry’s efforts to develop the services provided to the private sector. The said efforts pour into honing procedures for doing business in the State, and unifying Ministry procedures vis-à-vis citizens and investors, through a single service window.
The Advertising Licenses Service is among the services launched through the Single Window, to speed up and digitize procedures, in aims at improving services provided to individuals and companies, raising the efficiency of government administrative processes, and effectively employing information technology in providing public services. The said streamlining efforts support the State of Qatar’s vision of building a knowledge-based economy, and achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched a package of smart e-services through the Single Window platform, comprising 27 main services, and 149 sub-services. Such efforts mark a qualitative leap in the Ministry’s processing and dealings vis-à-vis citizens.
The said services include: comprehensive incorporation, comprehensive renewal, requesting a replacement for lost commercial license, obtaining a hard copy of commercial registration, issuing tax card, receiving e-mail notifications, activating link point with the building completion certificate, enabling e-signatures, completing issuance of the industrial license for industrial registration, obtaining approval for Qatar Development Bank financing, and completing activation of Industrial Approvals Portal. The services also include access to the Industrial Approvals Portal’s improved features, control panel, and reports.
Moreover, the services entail issuing facility registration, access to the mobile application, comprehensive modification service, adding a branch, issuing a sub-license, contract management services for foreign contracting companies, comprehensive closure, issuing home licenses, printing extracts, and obtaining a certification of good conduct, as well as the company merger/division service.
In addition, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has devised and launched a number of services that were not included in the original scope of the project. These services were implemented to improve investors’ Single Window experience, as well as increase their satisfaction with the offered services. These services include: executive seizure and release of seizure (Supreme Judicial Council), digital seizure and release of seizure (Authority for Minors’ Affairs), validation of the commercial register extract for entities and individuals, home licensing services (issuance – amendment – renewal), registration and commercial licenses extracts, issuance of establishment branch registration, declaring real beneficiary information, and the comprehensive information centre service.
Through the Single Window Platform, 60,450 digitally signed incorporation contracts were signed by investors, and contracts were digitally signed by the Ministry of Justice, in addition to signing 10,272 documents by investors, through the Incorporation Contract Digital Signature service. Moreover, 70,913 payment processes were completed via the Single Window e-Payment Gateway. Concerning the e-Approvals Gateway, it includes 77 registered entities and 17 active government entities. 23,684 complete digital approvals have been issued through the e-Approvals Gateway, which hosts 80 digital link points with various supporting agencies and bodies.
As for requests and transactions, the number of transactions submitted through the Single Window has amounted to 218,159 transactions, 12,809 facility registration issuances, and 46,176 tax number issuances.
