Ecquaria is proud to power Qatar's newly launched e-Government portal called Hukoomi with the successful launch of its new commercial registration e-Services which allow individuals and businesses to register new businesses and manage existing commercial registration processes online.

Commissioned by ictQATAR (www.ictQATAR.qa), the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology of the State of Qatar, Hukoomi marks a milestone in the Qatar Government’s commitment to deliver world-class government services to the people who visit, live and work in Qatar.

Ecquaria architected and implemented Hukoomi's underlying infrastructure called the Qatar Service Platform (QSP), a central integrated and hosting infrastructure that enables the efficient sharing of common services such as user authentication, e-payment and data services from various agencies.

With the commercial registration e-services, business users can now transact online and make e-payments for a set of pilot e-Services, saving themselves numerous visits to government entities. Available in both English and Arabic, the e-Services allow individuals and businesses to set up a new business on-line - from registration, to approvals, to required documentation, to payments - through this one-stop shop. They also allow current businesses to renew their commercial registration, change company details and reserve or change a business name.

Since the official launch of Hukoomi in February this year, the first quarter of 2008 has realized a significant increase in the number of transactions.

In meeting the goals of achieving an integrated government, Mr Hassan Al Sayed, Government IT Platform Manager, Government Information Management Office at ictQATAR said, "QSP helps the customers to get the services much easier and faster than the classic way which is going through the counter."

Dr Foong Wai Keong, President and CEO of Ecquaria, attributed the successful QSP rollout to the excellent partnership and determined shared commitment of the project team at ictQATAR and Ecquaria.

Believed to be the first landmark Government-to-Business (G2B) e-Government agreement of its kind sealed in the Middle East, the QSP project was awarded to the Singapore enterprise software company in November 2006 based on its proven track record in empowering e-Government projects.