OECS Commission to Begin Training for ‘One Stop Shop’ Business Registry System

By Caribbean News Report | Editorial credit: Dennis MacDonald / shutterstock.com 

The Eastern Caribbean witnessed a significant advancement in transforming its business registration processes with support from the OECS Commission under the Regional ‘Integration Through Growth Harmonisation and Technology’ Programme. On November 26, 2024, the Commission launched the consultancy to deliver a training programme to assist the Registrars of Companies in four OECS Protocol Member States—Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines— with integrating a new, updated platform for the online registration and incorporation of companies. 

A release from the OECS Commission states that the initiative was part of broader regional efforts to implement the commitments under the Revised Treaty of Basseterre, which aim to promote the free movement of people, goods, and services within the region. The Right of Establishment, particularly within the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union (ECEU), and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), is a key component of these efforts. By contributing to the single jurisdiction mandate to modernise the business registration process, the OECS Commission said it is encouraged that businesses within the region could thrive in a more efficient, transparent, and accessible environment. 

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This new platform follows the development work of the Regional Online Companies Registry System (OCRS) by the CARICOM Secretariat in 2014, which sought to streamline and enhance the ease of doing business in the region. This system provided a platform for enabling online company registration across both the ECEU and the broader CARICOM region. However, the new platform—One Stop Shop Business Registration System (OSS BRS)—will replace the OCRS.

  Eastern Caribbean