Daily Times

The World Bank Group and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) will continue its technical and financial assistance to the Sindh government.

The assurance was given during a meeting between a five-member team of DFID and officials of the provincial government. Lindy Cameron, the director general of the Country Programmes; Joanna Reid, DFID head in Pakistan; Elin Burns, UK Deputy High Commissioner and Sindh Board of Investment chairperson Naheed Memon were present on the occasion.

The meeting discussed future investment prospects, besides reviewing progress under the Doing Business, Prosperity Fund. The SBI Chairperson, while appreciating financial and technical support of DFID for Doing Business reform projects, said that the provincial government was committed to giving priority to reforms to attract investment, adding that immense opportunities were available in the province for investment in energy, minerals, agriculture, hotel and tourism industries.

Further, Naheed Memon said that various reforms were introduced at departmental level in the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, the Sindh Building Control Authority, the Board of Revenue and the Energy Department under the first 100 Day Sprint of Doing Business. She said that the provincial government had mobilised all available resources for the success of the reforms initiative, adding that work would remain underway for the purpose. Memon said the second sprint was already underway, and was in fact nearing completion. She said that the next step would be to verify the efficacy of the reforms to see whether citizens were getting benefits or not. She said that most of the reforms were aimed at easing procedures for registration of businesses through introduction of latest technologies.

The SBI chairperson told the visiting delegation that 10 facilitation centres would soon be set up in Karachi under the Ease of Doing Business in Sindh initiative.

“While appreciating efforts of Sindh government and particularly the SBI, DFID members vowed that the department would continue technical and financial support of the government in the Ease of Doing Business initiative.

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2018.