ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BOI) is working on establishment of office of foreign investment ombudsman (OFIO) to facilitate foreign enterprises regarding complaints and after services, the BOI announced on Friday. In a tweet, Chairman BOI Atif Bokhari stated as part of investment promotion strategy 2020-23, BOI is working on establishment of office of OFIO to facilitate foreign enterprises regarding complaints and after services.

He further said the OFIO was an integral part of a comprehensive strategy that aimed to improve business climate through investment retention and expansion. All these initiatives are geared towards growth of Pakistan's industrial sector to increase employment opportunities.

The World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing support for the project, and Ease of Doing Business (EOBD) reforms OFIO will be another success story, he maintained. The board in collaboration with the IFC and Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom organised a seminar on "Doing Business Reforms in Pakistan" and launched "6th ease of doing business reform action plan'' and the BOI's "Investment promotion strategy 2020-2023" on August 26, 2020.

In 2020 investment climate statements regarding Pakistan, the US State Department observed that despite a relatively open foreign investment regime, Pakistan remains a challenging environment for foreign investors.

An improving but unpredictable security situation, difficult business climate, lengthy dispute resolution processes, poor intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement, inconsistent taxation policies, and lack of harmonisation of rules across Pakistan's provinces have contributed to lower Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as compared to regional competitors.

The government is working on a multi-year FDI strategy, which aims to gradually increase the FDI to $7.4 billion by Fiscal Year 2022-2023 from $2.8 billion in Financial Year 2019-2020.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020