ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has undertaken some tough but vital reforms that ensured improvement in the Pakistan’s overall ease of doing business ranking, said a statement issued on Saturday.
Out of the total 10 areas covered in the WB report, the success of reforms drive by the SECP for ease of doing business is reflected in three indicators, i.e. starting a business, protecting minority investors and resolving insolvency, where Pakistan ranked 72, 28 and 58, respectively.
In World Bank’s latest rankings on ease of doing business for 2020, Pakistan has improved its position by 28 points from 136 to 108. The improvement is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. With reforms acknowledged in six areas i.e. starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes and trading across borders, Pakistan is ranked a number one reformer in South Asia and scored 6th position among top ten reformers globally. The Doing Business Report is a publication of the World Bank Group that benchmarks business regulation in 190 countries.
Out of six reform areas acknowledged in 2020 report, the biggest jump of 58 points was recorded in ‘Starting a Business’, from 130 to 72. Expansion of online one-stop-shop facility through SECP’s eServices to different federal and provincial agencies has reduced the number of procedures required to set up a business from 10 to 5. Now, an entrepreneur can get registration with six agencies i.e. SECP, NTN from FBR and registration with EOBI, PESSI/SESSI and labour department and excise and taxation department of Punjab and Sindh, by submitting a single online application through SECP eServices.
SECP Corporatization and Compliance Department Commissioner Shaukat Hussain said that the commission remains committed to pursuing its agenda for ease of doing business. He further said that finalisation of subordinate legislation under corporate rehabilitation and corporate restructuring laws, operationalization of secured transaction registry and extension of the one-stop-shop facility to KP and Balochistan are among the top priority areas for the next year.
