Pakistan's doing business (DB) ranking improved by 28 points to 108th from 136th out of 190 countries in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 released on Thursday. Pakistan's ranking improved in six indicators (starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes and trading across borders) out of total ten reforms.
Pakistan's Doing Business score improved in seven indicators (starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, protecting minority investors, paying taxes and trading across borders).
Pakistan is among top ten improvers in DB 20 alongside Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria.
The score (formerly known as distance to frontier) improved from 55.31 to 61. It highlights that the country is consistently closing the gap between its regulatory environment and global good practices.
Pakistan improved its score in starting a business from 130th to 72nd, dealing with construction permits from 166th to 112th, getting electricity from 167th to 123rd, registering property from 161st to 151st, paying taxes from 173rd to 161st, and trading across borders from 142nd to 111th; however, there is no improvement in enforcing contracts index which stood at 156th.
In Asia region, the DB ranking has shown China top with scoring 31st position, India (63rd), Bhutan (89th), Nepal (93rd) and Sri Lanka (99th).
The governments of 115 economies around the world launched 294 reforms over the past year to make doing business easier for their domestic private sector, paving the way for more jobs, expanded commercial activity, and higher incomes for many, according to the World Bank Group's Doing Business 2020 study.
According to the report, DB 2020 uses a simple method to calculate which economies improved the ease of doing business score the most. First, it selects the economies that in 2018/19 implemented regulatory reforms making it easier to do business in 3 or more of the 10 topics included in this year's aggregate ease of doing business score.
Pakistan, top improver in South Asia, developed an ambitious reform strategy, setting up a national secretariat as well as Prime Minister's Reform Steering Committee to ensure progress. Most of the programmed reforms evolved around the doing business indicators. Doing business working groups have been set up at both municipal and provincial levels.
The World Bank launched the annual Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 in Washington DC.
The Board of Investment, the premier government's agency for implementation of Ease of Doing Business Reforms, organized an event here to witness the progress made by Pakistan in the DB rankings.
The formal announcement of Pakistan's ranking was made by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce &Textile, Industries and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood. The event was attended by Chairman BOI Zubair Gilani, chairman SECP, chairman NEPRA, representative from FBR, officials of Punjab and Sindh governments, SBCA and other stakeholders from federal and provincial governments as well as the World Bank and private sector.
Addressing the event, Abdul Razak Dawood said that Prime Minister Imran Khan gave priority to Ease of Doing Business reforms and held a number of meetings to make sure that the reform drive is on track. He stated that the report is only one step towards the goals and the government has constituted a number of reform committees to bring about further improvements in the business climate in the country.
Underlining the importance of Doing Business report, Razak Dawood stated that ranking is very important for foreign investment in a country. He said, "Six reforms of Pakistan have been accepted by the World Bank but we are particularly focusing on the remaining four areas, where there is still a lot of room for improvement."
He further underscored that improvement in DB ranking is a proof of Pakistan's commitment to improve business environment and deepen links with world economy. Moreover, Pakistan had beaten India by 18 points in DB ranking of 2019 of World Bank.
The advisor appreciated the role of federal and provincial agencies as well as the team of Board of Investment which worked harder during the last year to ensure an unprecedented improvement by Pakistan in the global DB rankings.
Further, the adviser underlined that improved DB ranking will go a long way in attracting domestic as well as foreign direct investment from the globe. It is pertinent to mention here that owing to an improved business climate, FDI witnessed a growth of 112% in September 2019.
Country Director of World Bank for Pakistan Patchamuthu Illangovan congratulated Pakistan on becoming one of the top ten business climate improvers in 2020.
Addressing the event, Chairman BOI Zubair Gilani said the government has a consensus on resolving the business-related issues through technology-backed solutions. He added that the improvement in business environment and overall economy is becoming visible because of the reforms introduced by the government and, going forward, the government will focus on the mandate of ensuring well being of masses and providing quality education and health to everyone.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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