ISLAMABAD: After a launch Asaan Karobar Program, an initiative of ease of doing business in the country almost a year ago, Board of Investment (BoI) has finally completed the draft bill of the program to be presented in the parliament by end of this month.
In March 2022, President Arif Alvi had formally launched the Asaan Karobar Programme, as part of (SMEs) Development Policy to lessen the compliance burden on businesses particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Former Prime Minister had desired BoI to undertake regulatory Reforms and Guillotine in line with international best practices to identify regulatory obstacles for elimination, simplification and modernization of regulations at all three tiers of government i.e. Federal, Provincial & Local government.
Following the initiative, BoI was in consultation with different stakeholders for reforms and to remove technical and legal bottlenecks in doing business in the country.
As per officials at BoI by end January 2023, at least 04 rounds of Regulatory Reforms and Guillotine have been launched by BoI and a total No. of 270 reform proposals have been taken up with federal and provincial departments of which 137 reforms have been implemented.
During a consultative workshop held here on Monday, the concerned stakeholders have agreed to initiate the legislative process to introduce the Asaan Karobar Bill in the Parliament at the earliest.
This was decided during the Workshop, which was attended by over 80 participants including representatives from public & private sector, all the provincial governments, AJK, G-B, Finance Division, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Pakistan Single Window (PSW), Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Pakistan Business Council (PBC), KP-BoI, AJK-BoI, academia etc.
Addressing the concluding session, Ms. Ambreen Iftikhar, Additional Secretary, BOI said that the valuable discussion between the stakeholders would be incorporated in the final draft of the Asaan Karobaar Bill.
She said that BOI was fully aware of the problems faced by different investors in initiating their businesses and in this regard valuable input was given during the consultative workshop. She said that the Bill would ensure protection and promotion of small business owners to run their businesses with ease and comfort. She also stressed upon the effective implementation of the Bill, once it would be passed from the parliament.
As per the official the challenges confronting the Asaan Karobar Bill are included; limited access to finances, lack of skilled labor, poor infrastructure, and a volatile business environment. The proposed Bill will be introduced in the Parliament by the end of this month after incorporating the valuable suggestions by the participants.
As per documents the identification of cumbersome regulations is made through active involvement of the private sector, business associations, and chambers of commerce and industry. The proposals received are further examined and then suitable ones are shared with concerned departments & agencies in the public sector.
The relevant departments also carry out their own impact analysis, and then implement reforms by making suitable regulatory changes to eliminate, reduce or simplify the regulatory difficulties. It is the first of its kind partnership between the public and private sector to simplify the regulatory landscape and create a friendly environment to support the growth of businesses, particularly SMEs.
