Does this sound familiar: you have to fill out an application for your business, or you have to apply for a new passport. A visit to the authorities can be tiresome and time consuming, and “friendliness” or “efficiency” are foreign words to the clerks behind the desks. Every time you find yourself wishing for a better and less complicated system. Bureaucracy standards are often out-dated and do not meet the current standard of communications.
According to a study that was carried out within the EU, Malta stands out as having the best e-governance system of all member states. But what exactly is an e-governance system? It basically contains all measures aimed to simplify processes relating to information, communication and transactions between government authorities and citizens or businesses by means of using digital communication technologies. In short: visiting the authorities online. Malta is at the front with providing these services, even though the country is very small and public authorities are never far away. However, the government has recognised that it is important to keep up with the time, and to offer people and companies the possibility to handle their administrative duties online.
The study put an emphasis on customer-orientation in terms of accessibility and user-friendliness. Other countries, such as Germany had an average performance and scored below EU average. Malta scored 94 out of 100 points. Malta is also at the top of the list with regards to transparency. The island nation is an example for excellent e-governance measures.
We experience this convenience every day in our daily work at the office of Dr Werner & Partner. It is a great relief that a variety of forms are available online, for example forms to found a limited company. This makes the whole process of establishing a company easier for us and our clients. Although all documents are personally submitted to the MFSA by us, they are initially available online, which speeds up the preparation.
