ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the PM on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood while chairing the sixth Steering Committee (SC) meeting on Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) appreciated the regulatory reforms introduced for facilitation of SMEs under BOI-led Regulatory Reforms and Guillotine Initiative.
He expressed satisfaction on performance of stakeholders and encouraged them to continue the momentum towards ensuring a business-friendly environment in the country. He said it is heartening to see acknowledgement of government endeavours by the private sector as it is testament of the on ground positive impact.
Secretary BOI Fareena Mazhar acknowledged the active involvement of private sector in supporting BOI in successful execution of the ongoing initiative. The secretary expressed gratitude to the prime minister and his team for supporting the timely and successful implementation of the regulatory reform activity.
She reaffirmed the federal and the provincial governments’ commitment to improve the business climate of the country through continued regulatory reforms. The sixth Steering Committee (SC) meeting on the PRMI chaired by Dawood was held at the BOI on Thursday.
The meeting reviewed implementation of decisions made in fifth SC meeting, briefing by BOI on regulatory guillotine activities and provincial groups on their respective agendas related to the PRMI.
Former Advisor to PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain, who is currently included as private member in PRMI SC, secretary BOI, additional secretary Commerce, joint secretary Industries and Production, provincial and regional chief secretaries/representatives, director ICT, representatives of private sector i.e. the PBC, the FPCCI, the OICCI, the KCCI, the LCCI, the FCCI and Pakistan’s international development partners World Bank Group and the FCDO attended the meeting in person and virtually.
Additional Secretary BOI Mukarram Jah Ansari gave a broad overview of the working and progress of Regulatory Guillotine mechanism, which aims to identify, simplify, modernize or eliminate the regulatory bottle necks for facilitation of businesses particularly small and medium enterprises.
The entire exercise has been carried out in close collaboration with business associations of varied sectors to ensure accurate identifications of cumbersome regulations that are hampering business growth.
To date, three rounds of regulatory reform and guillotine have been launched by the BOI. A total number of 168 reform proposals have been taken up with federal and provincial departments of which over 100 reforms have been implemented and others are under various stages of implementation.
A dedicated interactive portal showcasing the implemented reforms along with supporting evidence was also viewed by the forum. Ansari also appreciated the support of World Bank, FCDO and Office of Product Safety & Standards in the capacity building and hand holding of the government departments regarding smart regulations.
Provincial representatives of the KP and the Punjab briefed on progress on initiation of provincial One Stop Shop (OSS) and Zero Time To Start-Up (ZTTS) policies respectively.
The meeting concluded with a commitment of stakeholders to fast-track the process of reform implementation to promote industry and export-led growth in the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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