ARTA, Quezon City relaunch online business registration portal

MANILA, Philippines — The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Quezon City government and other key agencies yesterday led the relaunching of the government’s online platform for business registration.

The local government of Quezon City hosted the launching of the Philippine Business Hub (PBH), which features a new look and integrates the Philippine Business Regulations Information System, providing information on the Philippine Regulatory Management System as well as laws and regulations relevant to the public.

Formerly known as the Central Business Portal, the PBH reduced the time and number of steps for business registration from 33 days and 13 steps to only seven days and one step.

Apart from the ARTA and the QC government, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry and Securities Exchange Commission joined the launching of the PBH, which can be accessed through business.gov.ph.

At least 703 corporations and 6,729 sole proprietorships have registered with the PBH since January last year.

ARTA officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Ernesto Perez said the government relaunched the PBH to focus on efforts on starting a business.

He urged government agencies to continue working together to further reduce the number of days for registering businesses.

Perez said the government is committed to making doing business in the country easy and to provide efficient services to the public.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said up to 95 percent of the city’s business owners secured their permits using the local government’s online platform.

Belmonte said the local government is confident that by the end of the year, 100 percent of the city’s business owners would have embraced the online business permit and licensing system.