New Straits Times, 31 January, 2008.

SETTING up a hotel is now a breeze - no more requirements for multiple permits and licences, not to mention the single day it now takes to register the business with the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

Thanks to the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, otherwise known as PEMUDAH, a 23-member task force set up by the government on February 7 this year that puts senior public and private officials together to untangle red tape and help smoothen the public delivery system.

Ivo R Nekvapil, vice-president of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, said that the establishment of a one-stop centre where setting up a hotel in the country now requires only one licence instead of the usual 15 licences and permits, will enable the local hotel industry to be more competitive in the region.

The tourism sector in Malaysia is without question one of the main contributors in terms of foreign earnings towards the national income.

Therefore, it is vital for the government to put initiatives like these into motion to encourage the further growth of the hotel industry in order to address the needs of local and international tourists.

Other initiatives taken for the hotel industry include amalgamating the two licences needed to sell liquor at hotel premises to just one, as well as the introduction of online applications.

The National Council for Local Government has also agreed to extend the validity of the Composite Licence for Hotel to three years from the previous one year, and incorporate Temporary Entertainment Permits into the Composite Licence.

The Composite Licence will be issued based on the hotel's star rating valuation by the Ministry of Tourism.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, who co-chairs PEMUDAH together with the chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, said that the positive results of getting a business registered within a day would improve Malaysia's ranking on "ease of doing business" in the coming years.

Malaysia is currently 24th on the World Bank's Doing Business ranking and hopes to break into the Top 10 by the year 2010. Yong added that PEMUDAH has set up five focus groups to meet this target.

Regardless of whether this ranking goal is achieved, should PEMUDAH continue to simplify and speed up application procedures in a number of crucial areas, its efforts will go a long way in attracting greater foreign and local investment.