ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) is striving hard to create a business-friendly environment in the country to attract not only local but also foreign investors.
A BoI official informed WealthPK that the primary mandate of the board was to ensure a business-friendly environment for the investors. “BoI is taking all the necessary steps in promoting ease of doing business in Pakistan.”
He said Asaan Karobar Programme – Business-Friendly Governance – was launched in March this year to facilitate promotion of small and medium enterprises by attracting local and foreign investment to put the country on a sustainable growth path. He said the board was introducing reforms in different sectors to attract investment.
The official said that in the starting business indicator, the BoI had simplified the sales tax registration process for businesses by eliminating the physical inspection of the business location by the tax authorities to provide ease of doing business.
Similarly, he said in enforcing contracts – an indicator of doing business – the BoI in collaboration with the law department of Punjab had created specialised commercial courts, divisions or benches to settle the commercial disputes in a speedy manner to save both the cost and time of the businesses.
Likewise, he said as far as the trading-across-border indicator was concerned, the BoI in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue had taken measures to allow the businesses to use the Qasim International Container Terminal as a free storage facility for some time. He added that the business people could now deposit customs, administrative, inspection and scanning fees online. The BoI official said the local governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been empowered to register small traders and businesses without charging them any fee. Before this, he added, all the 120 trades, including small ones, had to obtain the licence by paying a fee, besides paying the annual inspection fees. Now, all the traders have been exempted from trade licence and inspection fees.
According to Tuaha Adil, a research economist at the Policy Research Institute of Market Economy, to further improve the business climate in Pakistan, the government should address real issues such as the negative impact of taxation, the excessive government footprint or bureaucratic barriers, trade restrictions, frequent changes in policy, and the lack of integration of local industry into the global value chain due to decades of protective legislation. –INP
