The federal government has failed to appoint new chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI) despite passage of over a month. The chairman BoI has the mandate to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country. On May 22, 2019, Haroon Sharif resigned from the post of chairman BoI. Prime Minister Imran Khan had appointed Sharif as chairman of the BoI in October 2018.
Sharif had taken over the reins of BoI from Naeem Zamindar who had been appointed by the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The Board had been established with broad-based responsibilities of promotion of investment in all sectors of economy, facilitation of local and foreign investors for the speedy materialisation of their projects and to enhance Pakistan's international competitiveness and contribute to economic and social development.
The wide-ranging services provided by the BOI include providing information on the opportunities for investment and facilitating companies that are looking for a joint venture. The sources said that start of commercial operations in Rashakai, one of the nine special economic zones (SEZ) prioritised under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been delayed because of absence of the BOI chairman. Earlier, the government had planned to start commercial operations during the first quarter of the next financial year.
The sources maintained that the BOI is focusing on evolving a strategy on areas where it can improve and frame short, medium and long-term strategies to implement reforms to improve the ease of doing business.
Moreover, the government is also working to develop a communication strategy to build effective feedback mechanisms so that bottlenecks in implementation are identified in a timely manner and dealt with accordingly while the BOI plays role as a leading agency. The government wants to improve Pakistan's ranking from its current 136th position to below 100 in the coming year, which in return would enhance the prospects of foreign and local investments and promote economic growth.
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