Over 80 guests celebrated the grand opening of the first provincial Afghanistan Central Business Registry (ACBR) office in the city of Jalalabad- Nangarhar province. In this ceremony, the Governor of Nangarhar province and Minister of Commerce and Industry welcomed guests, saying that the Registry was a one-stop-shop that would make registration faster and easier for businesses in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nooristan provinces. The Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs in US embassy- Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne mentioned that the opening of this provincial office follows the successful launch of the Afghanistan Central Business Registry in Kabul last September. The U.S. Government partnered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to establish a one-stop-shop shop for business registration. Over 5,000 new businesses have registered since its launch. Appeal Court Justice who handed over the registration process previously done by the Commercial Court said that, it was time for the Ministry of Commerce to re-assume its role as the principal place for business registration. Safia Seddiqi, a Parliamentarian and Member of the Economic Commission gave a heartfelt address on the importance of the registry and the need to support the private sector. The Afghan press was uniformly positive in its press coverage of the event. With funding from USAID, ACBR is implemented by MOCI with collaboration and technical support from Deloitte LLP. ACBR is a one stop shop where businesses can register in a couple of hours. It combines all of the functions previously done by the Commercial Court, the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Finance. The business registration process involves obtaining a tax identification number (TIN), publishing business information in the Official Gazette and getting a referral letter to any licensing agency for a low flat fee in a short period of time.This will certainly help and encourage businesses to enter the formal economy and the computerized system enables the office to conduct business analysis. 
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