ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has been recognised as the “7th most effective regulator” by the World Economic Forum in its ‘Global Competitiveness Report-2019’.
“Pakistan was ranked as the 52nd most dynamic economy in the world. The country secured this by improving 15 points from last year, as it stood at 67th in 2018,” said a statement issued by Mishal Pakistan, Country Partner at WEF’s Institute of the Future of Economic Progress System Initiative, on Wednesday. “The progress of Pakistan’s competitiveness was due to the achievements made during the last 12 months.”
The most effective improvements were made due to the initiative and strategies adopted by the apex regulator for the corporate sector and the capital markets; supervision and regulation of insurance, non-banking financial companies and private pension schemes.
The SECP improved Pakistan’s competitiveness rankings by improving the “number of days to start a business”, where Pakistan was ranked at the 90th position compared with 96th in 2018.
SECP Chairman Aamir Khan, while briefing the WEF partner team, said the commission is working hard to develop new approaches so as to connect and facilitate its stakeholders. “The aim is to bring structural changes in terms of attitude towards entrepreneurial risk and growth of innovative companies, where Pakistan already has an impressive global position at 53rd among 141 nations.”
He said the strategies adopted by the commission were also instrumental in enabling more companies to embrace disruptive ideas.
“The SECP is working with other stakeholders to create the legal framework’s adaptability to digital business models, where Pakistan is performing better than 100 other countries in the world.”
According to the chairman, the SECP is committed to revolutionising its technology infrastructure so as to give shareholders a world-class service experience, envisioned by the federal government.
Aamir Khan said, “We all must work together to improve the collective understanding of all stakeholders for a meaningful change in the business environment. Digital solutions deployed by the SECP made companies registration and post-incorporation compliance simple, faster and cost-effective.”
In September 2019, 96pc of companies were registered online through SECP’s eService while 50pc of companies were incorporated within the same day, he informed. “Most importantly, 85 foreign applicants completed the registration processes through the commission’s eService.”
He said the SECP has also introduced a digital transformation project called Leading Efficiency through Automation Prowess (LEAP) programme, which enables sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence to allow SECP to better perform its regulatory role and give access to insights and cutting edge analytics to best serve the financial ecosystem and the best interest of the citizens of Pakistan.
