LAHORE: Punjab Government Wednesday launched the online Punjab Business Registration Portal here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) to facilitate businesses.
With its slogan of 'Anytime, Anywhere' and developed by Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), the portal would ensure businesses registration in minutes by providing access to a slew of online services, cutting down the cost, time and effort of visiting multiple government departments for the purpose.
PITB Chairman Dr. Umar Saif formally inaugurated the ported.
Addressing the launch ceremony, Provincial Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said on the occasion that as part of the Punjab Government and World Bank's 100 Days to Excellence in Doing Business Reform Plan, the business registration portal provided an online platform for business entities such as sole proprietorship, association of persons (firms), single member company, private and public limited companies to be registered thereby, eliminating the need for citizens to visit various departments in order to get a business registered.
As a result of this online facility, she said, the registration processing time had been reduced from approximately 17 days to two days.
The portal would not only ensure timely issuance of online registration certificates but also provide a tracking mechanism for the applications thus making the process more transparent.
She said, "Our private and public interests are common. As an economist I believe in the greater role of private sector in turning around the economy and creating employment. The government's role is supportive." she maintained.
Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said, Punjab Government Punjab had designed Growth Strategy 2018 to help accelerate economic growth and improve social indicators. "During the course of designing the strategy, we focused on improving the lives of ordinary people through creating employment opportunities.
This can only happen if the private sector grows, resulting in more investment," she said, asserting that if Pakistani investors moved ahead, it would encourage foreign investors to invest in Pakistan.
In recent months, she said, the provincial government had taken several initiatives such as cutting down the time spent on registering property to 18 days, and time for construction permits reduced from 60 days to 20 days. A lot had been done to facilitate ease of business but it had not been communicated properly.
The business community that made opinion about Pakistan's image needed to be more aware of this for which LCCI could help create this awareness and how private investors could benefit from these reforms.
On this occasion, Punjab Minister for Industries, Shaikh Allauddin said the provincial government was giving final touches to its industrial policy, focusing on ensuring a credit-line for investors.
He also expressed concern over the news reports about the outflow of foreign exchange amounting to US $ two billion, adding that this could be stopped through ease of doing business that would create employment opportunities.
Punjab Planning and Development Board Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan said that P&D Department had launched Punjab Jobs & Competitiveness (J&C) Programme in collaboration with World Bank Group to improve investment climate and create employment.
The programme, he added, supported upgrading and development of industrial infrastructure through a private sector-led competitive process. "Businesses and government need to stay in close coordination for us to help resolve issues impeding private investment in a timely manner,” said Jahanzeb Khan.
During the launch, Secretary Industries, Mujtaba Piracha mentioned that Punjab Industries Department and PITB (Punjab Information Technology Board) were going to launch one-window facility for businesses at Sundar Industrial Estate in the coming month to be followed by a similar facility at Faisalabad.
While, PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif said that provincial government had a renewed focus on ensuring ease of doing business in the province.
The portal would provide access to a host of services, making it easier for small businesses to work in Pakistan, he said and added that these were baby steps, a lot more needed to be done such as online payment of business-related fees and the need to make sure that taxes were filed once, not 49 times.
"We are cognizant of all this and the government is working to remove these impediments to business.
In about four to six weeks, we will introduce online payment facility so businesses will not have to visit Pakistan to pay on fees," he said. Online payment of fee and taxes, he opined, would encourage businesses to start and expand.
On this occasion, the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said, "We attach a lot of hope to the portal especially in relation to starting a business. Through the online portal, businesses can submit all required documents online to start registration immediately."
Starting a business, he added, was one of the ten World Bank's Doing Business indicators on the basis of which 190 economies all over the world would be evaluated for business-friendly reforms this year.
Of these four, starting a business, registering property, getting construction permits, contract enforcement fall under the provincial domain. In Pakistan, Doing Business data for these indicators was collected from private businesses in Lahore and Karachi, with Lahore contributing 35 percent and Karachi 65 percent of the country's share.
He said, "LCCI aims to bring Pakistan among the top 50 countries on the Doing Business index and hoped that the portal would set the right momentum for this and bring together more collaborators to facilitate ease of business and investment in the province.
Secretary P&D Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Secretary Labor Farah Masood, DG PITB Sajid Latif and Ali Jalal Program Director, Program Implementation Unit (PIU), P&D Department and other senior representatives of Government departments and different chambers of commerce from across the province also attended the ceremony.
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