Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Muhammad Azfar Ahsan said that private sector is the engine of growth and successful businesses drive growth, create jobs and pay the taxes that finance services and investment.
“BOI has initiated various reforms to improve the overall investment climate and to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country”, Chairman BOI said.
According to the press release, the Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Muhammad Azfar Ahsan was addressing business and corporate leaders.
Azfar Ahsan, highlighting the steps taken by the incumbent government for improving business climate for the private sector, said that the government is doing so by adopting initiatives and policy measures aimed for reducing the red tape and administrative procedures required to set up and run private firms.
The government committed to introduce commercial courts for quick decisions, improving competition and abating barriers to market entry by private enterprises, providing better access to finance especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and improving overall corporate governance, he said.
In addition, BOI has approved 22 Special Economic Zones all over Pakistan, which offers lucrative incentives to potential investors.
He further shared that in an effort to make the regulatory environment friendly and amenable to investors, BOI is leading the “Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative” (PRMI), launched by the Prime Minister of Pakistan which shall transform the regulatory landscape across all tiers of government; federal, provincial and local.
“Our government has a vision for a prosperous and progressive Pakistan through export-led labor-intensive industrialization.” Chairman BOI
“Pakistan’s export competitiveness is declining, the export profile is concentrated in terms of products and markets, and very few businesses are integrated in the global economy. Pakistan is currently the world’s seventh most protected economy as measured by the Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index.”Ahsan added.
The Chairman stated that BOI also runs a grievance resolution system to resolve the issues of investors and is working to establish an online public grievances / queries addressing system to strengthen its public outreach.
