ISLAMABAD: A year after the launch of the Asaan Karobar Programme to promote ease of doing business (EODB) in the country, the Board of Investment (BOI) has completed the draft bill of the programme to be presented in the parliament by the end of this month.
In March 2022, President Arif Alvi formally launched the Asaan Karobar Programme as part of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development Policy to lessen the compliance burden on businesses, particularly for SMEs.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan had desired BOI to undertake regulatory reforms and guillotine procedures in line with international best practices to identify regulatory obstacles at all three tiers of government, i.e. federal, provincial and local government, for the elimination, simplification and modernisation of regulations.
Following the former chief executive’s wish, BOI was in consultation with different stakeholders to reform and remove technical and legal bottlenecks in doing business in the country.
Officials privy to the matter state that by the end of January of this year, at least four rounds of regulatory reforms and guillotine have been launched and around 270 reform proposals have been taken up with federal and provincial departments. More so, 137 reforms have already been implemented as well.
During a consultative workshop held on Monday, the concerned stakeholders have agreed to initiate the legislative process to introduce the Asaan Karobar Bill in the parliament at the earliest.
The decision was taken in the workshop, in the presence of over 80 participants including representatives from public & private sector, all the provincial governments, AJK, G-B, Finance Division, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Pakistan Single Window (PSW), Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Pakistan Business Council (PBC), KP-BOI, AJK-BOI, academia, etc.
While addressing the concluding session, Ambreen Iftikhar, Additional Secretary at the BOI, said that the valuable discussion between the stakeholders would be incorporated in the final draft of the Asaan Karobaar Bill. She also said that BOI was fully aware of the problems faced by different investors in initiating their businesses and in this regard valuable input was given during the consultative workshop. The Bill would ensure protection and promotion of small business owners to run their businesses with ease and comfort. She also stressed upon the effective implementation of the Bill, after it is passed by the parliament.
However, the Bill has challenges as well. According to the officials, the challenges confronting the Asaan Karobar Bill include limited access to finances, lack of skilled labor, poor infrastructure, and a volatile business environment. The proposed Bill will be introduced in the Parliament by the end of this month after incorporating the relevant suggestions of the participants.
As per the documents, the private sector, business associations, and chambers of commerce and industry are all actively involved in the identification of hindering regulations. The proposals received are examined and then the important ones are shared with the concerned departments & agencies in the public sector. The relevant departments also carry out their own impact analysis, and then implement reforms by making suitable regulatory changes to eliminate, reduce or simplify the regulatory difficulties.Â
The initiative is the first of its kind partnership between the public and private sector to simplify the regulatory landscape and create a friendly environment to support the growth of businesses, particularly SMEs.
