ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has jumped up 28 places on the World Bank’s (WB) Ease of Doing Business Index, besides securing a place among the top 10 countries with the most improved business climate.
The formal announcement of Pakistan’s ranking was made by Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood during an event organised by the Board of Investment on Thursday. BOI Chairman Zubair Gilani, along with the senior officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Punjab and Sindh governments and the World Bank, was also present on the occasion.
According to the WB’s annual flagship report, ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020’, released on Thursday, Pakistan carried out six reforms that helped improve its ranking from 136 to 108. The country turned out to be the sixth global reformer and first in South Asia that brought ease in doing business in the last one year.
Among the top 11 economies (countries with population more than 100 million), Pakistan has been ranked as the number 1 reformer in the world.
Addressing the event, PM’s Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood said that the prime minister gave priority to business reforms and held a number of meetings to ensure that the reform drive is on track.
He stated that the report is only one step towards the goals, adding that the government has constituted a number of reform committees to bring about further improvements in the country’s business climate.
Underlining the importance of WB’s report, Dawood stated that the ranking is very important to attract foreign investment in the country. He said that six reforms of Pakistan have been accepted by the World Bank “but the government is particularly focusing on the remaining four areas, where there is still a lot of room for improvement”.
He termed the improvement in ‘doing business ranking’ as a proof of Pakistan’s commitment to improving its business environment.
The advisor appreciated the role of the federal and provincial agencies, as well as the BoI and WB teams, which worked hard during the last year to ensure an unprecedented improvement by Pakistan.
World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Illango on the occasion congratulated Pakistan for becoming one of the top ten business climate improvers.
Addressing the event, BOI Chairman Zubair Gilani said that the government has a consensus on resolving business-related issues through technology-backed solutions. “Going forward, the government will focus on ensuring the well-being of masses and providing quality education and health to everyone.”
Meanwhile, sources said that the government, despite making unprecedented improvement in the doing business ranking, has failed to achieve the target it had set for itself. The government wanted to be ranked within the top 100 countries.
According to sources, Pakistan is yet to make any drastic change in the taxation system, especially to avoid multiple taxes; the registration process and other regulations which face complications after the 18th amendment.
Sources said that the one-window operation system is still not working efficiently, while the companies are still receiving notices of audit from at least 13 revenue authorities across the country.
Apart from the many technical and legal hindrances, sources claim, there is a need to take bold political decisions, ensure inter-provincial cooperation & inter-agency coordination, sources said.
