TALLINN -- Entrepreneurs in tech-savvy Estonia will soon be able to register a new company in two hours on the Internet, thanks to a law passed by parliament Wednesday.
As of January 1 next year, new businesses will be able to register on a newly created central information portal on the Internet, obviating the need to make a trip to the notary public or take a pile of documents to a government office.
"Under the new rapid processing system, persons are identified and registrations take place using their national ID-card and digital signature on the Internet," Viljar Peep, head of official registers at the Justice Ministry, said.
Under the new system it will take a maximum of two days to register a company, but the central registry office will try to complete the procedure in two hours.
At present, company regisration takes up to 15 days.
The new system is believed to be another technological first for Estonia, home of Skype, the free-phonecalls-via-Internet service, and the first country in the world to allow online voting in a national election.
"As far as we know, this is unique in the world, being able to register a company on the Internet without getting up from your desk," Justice Minister Rein Lang said.
Estonia ranks just below the United States and above the 15 older member states of the European Union on a World Bank list of countries well-prepared for a knowledge-based economy.
Comments