Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr Miftah Ismail said on Tuesday that the World Bank in its report "Doing Business 2017" has listed Pakistan among the 10 economies which made biggest improvements in their business regulations. While speaking at a seminar on "Doing Business Reforms in Pakistan" at a hotel, Miftah, who is also Chairman Board of Investment (BOI), said the report deems Pakistan the only South Asian economy having improved its position from 148 to 144 out of 190 countries.
Miftah said this improvement is possible due to efforts made by the federal and provincial governments. "We need to further improve doing business indicators through deeper discussion on the areas where regulatory reforms are needed. Another way to boost growth is improving business climate through strengthening governance and enabling the private sector to thrive," he said.
Miftah said the key reform areas of business climate improvement were simplification of business registration procedures, promoting use of ADRs, improvement in process of paying taxes, establishing commercial benches at district level, streamlining construction permits and land registration processes, modernization of business laws, streamlining procedures, trading across borders, protecting investors and resolving insolvency.
He further said that mobilising investment and ensuring that it contributes to sustainable development, is a priority for Pakistan and it follows a liberal investment regime and facilitation.
He said that new businesses in Pakistan still face dire problems in acquiring, titling, pricing, transferring and possessing land, obtaining no-objection certificates from various agencies, acquiring water and gas connections, a reliable electricity supply and access roads and securing finances.
He said that for developing countries like Pakistan, where small and medium size enterprises make up a large share of economy, the quality business environment is a critical policy for the government to drive economic growth, create jobs and encourage private sector competition. He said that Pakistan has an ideal location that would make it the hub of international trade and commerce. The country has the 10th largest labour force in the world according to the labour force survey 2013-14, stands at 60.09 million.
Later, Miftah spoke to a gathering of businessmen at FPCCI's regional office. Speaking on the occasion, Miftah highlighted liberal policies being pursued by the government. He said the issue of load shedding would be settled by the end of this year while the government is encouraging investment.