The ratio of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to the population of Moldova is 12 : 1,000 people (28 per 1,000 economically active people), as against 27.6 in Bulgaria, 35 in Romania and 42.7 in Slovakia, Info-Prim Neo has learned from the Ministry of Economy. According to Deputy Minister of Economy Sergiu Ciobanu, the procedure for registering SMEs was considerably simplified by implementing the ‘one-stop office’ system at the State Registration Chamber. “The interconnection with the databases of the State Main Tax Inspectorate, the National Social Insurance House, the National Health Insurance Company, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Registration Chamber allows reducing the time needed to register a company. The people do no more need to go to these institutions and present the documents required for registration,” Ciobanu said. The companies are registered through the ‘one-stop office’ system at ten district registration centers that are subdivisions of the State Registration Chamber. A new company is now registered within five days, not 15 as earlier, or during 24 hours at request. The average price for registration is 672 lei. Sergiu Ciobanu said that 7,200 new SMEs were registered through the ‘one-stop office’ system in 2009. A number of 177 companies in Moldova provide consultancy services helping the new entrepreneurs to manage their businesses and identify partners and markets.