Increase in CR fees, Business community holds protest

Assistant Undersecretary for Commercial Registrations and Corporates, Ali Makki, said yesterday that plans were underway to restructure new Commercial Register (CR) fees but the decision will be only adopted after taking all stakeholders into confidence.

This came during a discussion session organised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday on the decision to raise fees for CRs and to discuss the reasons behind the move.

Second Deputy Chairman of the chamber Mohammed Kooheji said the Chamber is against the new fees, but “we have no choice but to devise a number of solutions and mechanisms in a way that does not affect the interests of traders”.

For his part, businessman Darwish Al Mannai suggested that business fees should be in accordance with the size of an organization. “Fees for a small workshop and a large factory should not be the same,” he said.

Furthermore, Mohammed Kooheji said: “The chamber will take all the views and proposals,” noting that the chamber was “racing against time to finish the study on the impact of the new fees on businesses”.