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E-Services Boon for Real Estate Investors
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The Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry is stepping up its e-services to investors and consultants as part of Bahrain's business-friendly policies, Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi said last night.
The ministry received 2,000 applications last year up from 1,968 in 2007 as the e-permit system had expedited investor services.
The online services have also enabled the ministry employees to approve the permits faster, said the minister.
Dr Al Ka'abi was speaking at a meeting of Bahrain Businessmen's Association held at Beit Al Quran.
"We as a ministry aim to be competitive by providing e-services and a one-stop-shop for real estate investors," he said.
"Our current strategies include having focused direction, effective communication, continuous improvement and effective resources."
Dr Al Ka'abi said the municipal one-stop-shop center's role is crucial in issuing permits.
"The mechanism of issuing permits was done manually earlier, forwarding files to various ministry departments for approval," he said.
"Then this process was stopped and then we started sending the permit applications to the departments in CDs but it still was a long process.
"Now the investor puts all his information online in an e-permit form and this automatically goes to all the departments at once," he said.
"This system has caused huge transparency in the ministry. For example, the system now allows easy tracking of the application.
"This mechanism has helped investors and consultants to find all details and guidelines about lands or buildings online.
"Our future development projects include networking with related bodies, determine the number of working days required to issue permits and monitoring the quality of services.
"We are also trying to enrich the role of the urban planning services by supporting the investment opportunities," said the minister.
He said investors can log onto the website www.urbanplanning.gov.bh to obtain more information
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