By JAMES KUNDA and MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA

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THE Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) has registered more than 7,000 businesses in the first quarter of 2014 and signed partnership agreements with 57 local authorities to take its services closer to the people.
PACRA public relations officer Vaida Bunda Njobvu said as at March 31, 2014, the agency had registered 7,459 new companies compared to 7,230 recorded for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.
“In the first quarter of this year, we have already registered 7,459 business entities, compared to 7, 230 registered in the same period of 2013,” Ms Bunda said in an interview.
She said the improvement in business registration could be attributed to the number of people starting businesses in agriculture and construction.
Ms Bunda, however, cautioned that PACRA would soon start deregistering business entities found wanting for not remitting their annual returns promptly.
She said the agency had observed that some business entities were still operating without remitting their annual returns on time.
Ms Bunda said PACRA recently implemented a digitalisation facility to enable the agency operate efficiently and interact with existing and potential customers.
Meanwhile, Ms Njobvu said the agency had entered into partnerships with the local authorities across the country, which are strategically located to help improve service delivery.
Ms Njobvu said so far PACRA had signed 57 partnership agreements with the councils across the country.
She said the partnerships with the councils were working well.
Ms Njobvu said PACRA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST) saying the project was expected to be rolled out by the
end of the year.