Collaboration with the World Bank

The collaboration constitutes pioneering work for both us and The World Bank. The Brønnøysund Register Centre has a high level of expertise when it comes to register solutions and it can therefore help countries to establish, run and develop registers.

Three fields
We will be working in three different fields. First of all, we will contribute to The World Bank’s projects aiming to simplify business establishment in certain countries. Our contribution will concern the development of register solutions that focus on legal, organisational (including processes) and technical issues. Secondly, we will conduct studies of register solutions that can be used to share knowledge and experience with other countries. In this context, a report is being prepared on the reform process in Norway from the 1980s until today. An international analysis will also be conducted of innovative register solutions using data from around 40 different countries and involving five case studies. Network building in the form of participation in international workshops and visits from other countries is the third element of the collaboration.
‘Mutual exchange is an important aspect of this collaboration. Not only do we pass on knowledge; we also learn a lot about ourselves and receive important knowledge from others,’ says department manager for the Department of Planning and Development Håkon Olderbakk.
During the latter part of 2010, the Brønnøysund Register Centre conducted assignments in Togo, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.


Bjarne Rosted (to the right) and Reidar Nybø had meetings with public agencies in Togo.

Overview of practice and processes

Ett ‘Together with Alice R Ouedraogo from The World Bank, we had 16 meetings in the capital Lome in one week, and most of the meetings were conducted in French. We had a meeting with Guichet Unique and most of the public agencies involved in the registration of enterprises in Togo. We also had a meeting with the Minister for Planning and Development, Dédé Ahoéfa Ekoue, a highly dedicated and hard-working woman,’ says Mr Rosted.
‘I said yes to the assignment because I expected to learn a lot professionally. Establishing and preparing procedures and structures relating to the registration of businesses is a complicated process that demands a lot of those involved. I think it’s great that the Brønnøysund Register Centre facilitates and enables their employees to work abroad,’ says Bjarne Rosted..

Framework conditions

Dörthe Koerner has the following to say about the framework conditions for running a register in Nepal:
‘The register of business enterprises in Kathmandu has electricity 29 hours a week. Many roads are not tarmacked, and especially in summer, the dust threatens to destroy computers. They have therefore primarily been moved to the top floors of the building. The World Bank’s premises are of a similar standard. True, they are not much affected by power cuts because the premises are powered by a generator, but it not uncommon for rats to spend the night in printers’ paper trays.’


‘A giant leap forward’

‘The agreement is a milestone in the Brønnøysund Register Centre’s efforts to develop registers in other countries. For many years, we have been involved in the development of registers internationally, and delegations from other countries often visit us to learn about how to run a register. The agreement with The World Bank is a giant leap forward for this work, and it shows the Brønnøysund Register Centre’s international status in the operation of registers,’ says Communications Director Mette Siri Brønmo at the Brønnøysund Register Centre.