Daily Times

With Pakistan’s ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index improving from 147 to 136 this year, the Government of Punjab aims to expand the scope of the reforms implemented under Ease of Doing Business Reforms Agenda with even more commitment.

What makes this boost in ranking both an achievement and a challenge is that it is relative – at any given time, economies around the world are competing to become the best performer on the doing business index. The ranking becomes a moving target and for anyone working on the Doing Business agenda, a reason not to become content or complacent about one’s achievements. Other countries are working hard – perhaps harder than us to achieve and implement reforms therefore the Federal and Provincial Governments must work together to improve the business environment of Pakistan.

As important as Ease of Doing Business ranking is for the sake of global recognition, it is the real outcome of reform in the shape of a conducive environment where private investors feel encouraged and facilitated through the gamut of operations aimed at starting and establishing a business. Ensuring reforms that makes doing business in Pakistan easy is one thing, appearing to implement them is another. If the business community – whom we work to facilitate by removing complex regulations around starting and operating business – is to appreciate reform effort, they must “see and experience” this facilitation.

To achieve this, Government of the Punjab is striving hard to implement comprehensive reform agendas which were recently showcased at the Ease of Doing Business Reforms Event in Lahore. Major initiatives of the Government were targeted at facilitating starting a business in Punjab; a Business Registration Portal has been developed for registration of businesses. A dedicated helpline has been established to facilitate queries regarding business registration. This has reduced the time required to register a business and the cost of registering businesses has also reduced substantially.

Moreover, obtaining a building permit for residential and commercial buildings has been simplified as Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in collaboration with Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB) has automated the building permit issuance system which now allows electronic submission of applications. Currently, the software is integrated with WASA and TEPA through which No Objection Certificate (NOC) can be obtained.

Similarly, a host of measures taken to facilitate Registering Property has resulted in reducing procedures for property registration. Online availability of digital cadaster maps has reduced time to register property. Additionally, free of cost No Objection Certificate (NOC) for property tax can be obtained online. Furthermore, to facilitate Paying Taxes, employers can now pay monthly social contributions and pension payments over the counter and online. The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) with 1-Link and Finance Department have introduced the facility to pay General Sales Tax (GST) online through mobile and web applications.

The government also takes into account the significance of reaching out to the private sector and propagate the various reform initiatives that have been taken to facilitate the businesses as the reforms and initiatives are futile if they are not reached to the private sector.

The Government is taking stringent measures to ensure timely implementation of corrective measures for improving the business environment in Punjab. The reforms are being monitored regularly by the Government at various levels therefore all efforts are directed towards improvement of service delivery. According to World Bank’s study, even though Doing Business indicators focus on small to medium-size domestic firms, many policy makers have associated improvements in the indicators with greater inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Punjab being the second largest business city in Pakistan, contributes 55 percent to the country’s annual production of goods and services (Punjab Economic Report, 2017). For this purpose, the Government of Punjab designed a comprehensive Program called Jobs & Competitiveness Program. The Program is in its third year of implementation and has successfully achieved the targets set in the first two years for improving business environment in order to attract investments and generate jobs in the province. In order to create more jobs to cater to the ever growing population in the province it is imperative that investors and businesses are incentivized to make Punjab an attractive business hub.

The writer currently serves as Program Director, Program Implementation Unit of P&D Board Punjab

Published in Daily Times, February 14^th 2019.