Pakistan improves 'ease of doing business' ranking by 11 points

April 11, 2019: Pakistan is aggressively pursuing reforms to create ease of doing business in the country.

This was stated by Prime Minister's Advisor on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood and Chairman Board of Investment Haroon Sharif at a joint media briefing in Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon.

They said Pakistan has improved its ranking by eleven points in doing business report 2019 for the first time in one year.

They said an integrated web portal has been established for registration of new businesses to reduce time and now a company can get itself registered in one day with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. 

They said that one window operation has been introduced for issuing a construction permit making the process efficient.

They told that a complete automation of property registration has been ensured in Punjab through online mode reducing the time drastically and improving transparency and quality of land administration. 

The salient features of reforms also include online payment of federal and provincial taxes and now the number of these payments has been reduced from forty seven to ten.

Online payments will help Pakistan improve its ranking in paying taxes indicator.

Abdul Razak Dawood and Haroon Sharif said that K-Electric has made the process of getting a commercial electricity connection easier by making it online where the customer can track the application as well.

They said dedicated ease of doing business offices have been set up at federal and provincial levels to remove bottlenecks and facilitate investors in the smooth business operations. 

Haroon Sharif said it is a priority of the government to make business entry and operations easier, faster and cheaper. He said the next step is to cut out the redundant regulations and remove unnecessary permissions, No Objection Certificates, and inspections. 

He said BOI is keen to improve the business climate in the country.

Abdul Razak Dawood stressed that further improvement will take nothing less than a 'whole of government approach' in which all ministries and departments would have to follow the reforms process.