Funded by the World Bank, JC&A assisted the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Lao PDR in setting up the Inventory of Business Licenses (IBL) portal (www.bned.moic.gov.la). The IBL aims to improve access to regulatory information on all formalities (licenses, permits, authorizations, clearances, etc.). The IBL is an online location where micro, small, medium, and large businesses – national or international – can find for free all formalities from the government or other public agencies. It includes all information requirements regarding applying an official formality in both Lao and English, categorized by sectors. A powerful search engine facilitates businesses to find government formalities and fulfill their obligations by eliminating the costs and risks derived from the not compliance or missing information when starting or reviewing procedures needed to do business in Lao PDR. The Inventory helps any businessperson to know, for instance,
- Who should complete this business formality?
- Does the formality have an application form?
- How long it takes for the authorities to process the formality?
- What are the reasons for the authority to deny issuing the formality?
- Does the license have a validity period or an expiration date?
- What specific sector is linked to formality?
- What is the amount of the application fees
