KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Aubyn Hill, has commended the ongoing digitisation of operations at the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ), highlighting its positive impact on service delivery.

He noted that between April and August 2025, the agency recorded 35,244 in-office visits—a reduction of nearly seven per cent compared to the 36,177 visits during the same period last year, alongside an increase in overall transactions.

Despite the decline in in-office visits, Hill pointed out that the COJ recorded a significant increase in transactions—rising to 40,758 between April and August 2025.

This represents a 21 per cent increase over the 33,730 transactions completed during the same period in 2024.

“You can see that the digitisation is working, because we are having more transactions with even fewer customers [physically coming in]. People are going online,” Senator Hill stated.

He was speaking during a press conference on Tuesday  at the ministry’s New Kingston office, where updates on the COJ’s operations were presented.

Senator Hill emphasised that while progress has been made, the agency still has significant ground to cover.

He expressed his vision for a future in which significantly fewer individuals visit the COJ’s physical offices, with the majority choosing to conduct their transactions through digital platforms.

“We want to make sure that we will get down to almost nothing in terms of customers [coming in], unless they have to really come in, [with virtually] everything [being] done online,” the minister stated.

Currently, customers can visit the COJ website to register new businesses, renew existing ones, and request basic information on their entities or others.

Senator Hill noted that the backlog in document processing at the agency has been significantly reduced—from 6,440 in August to just 384 in September.

He explained that this reduction was achieved through a targeted strategy, with the remaining backlog expected to be fully cleared by the end of October 2025.

Additionally, the minister applauded the COJ’s preapproval department, which reviews company incorporation documents before they are submitted, as it has received a 90 per cent first time approval rate.

Senator Hill attributed this outcome to the provision of clear, structured guidance for customers utilising the service.

–          JIS