ISLAMABAD – The Board of Investment (BOI) is committed to improvePakistan’s ease of doing business ranking to under 100 within two years toattract the international investors in the country.Main business centers of Karachi and Lahore play major role to portraybetter ease of doing business in this regards, and provincial governmentsof Sindh and Punjab are in better coordination with centre, senior officialof BOI told APP here on Thursday.He said that time, procedure, cost and companies’ registration and rapidbusiness process including other 10 indicators define the ease of doingbusiness ranking at international level.Replying to a question, he said that Economic Coordination Committee (ECC)of the Cabinet has also decided to prioritize the two new Special EconomicZones (SEZs) including Islamabad and Baluchistan in total of five SEZs.Applications for setting up private SEZs are being considered for furtherapproval, he said adding that private SEZs would be fully facilitated onthe line of government SEZs, including provision of tax exemption and onewindow operation to further ease down doing business in the country.He said that BoI was working on 100 days’ reform agenda with a deadline ofMarch 20 for executing the 35 reforms to attract maximum foreign investmentin the country.The official said that around 75 percent of work on 100 days’ reformsagenda had been completed and all the concerned institutions includingFederal Board of Revenue (FBR), Securities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) and Employees Old- Age Benefits Institutions (EOBI) arealso on-board for adopting the integrated approach for ease of doingbusiness reforms.Replying to another question, he said that BOI is committed to facilitatethe foreign investors to attract maximum Foreign Direct Investment in theSpecial Economic Zones (SEZs) to be established under China PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC).The foreign investors in SEZs would get the facility for plant andmachinery import without customs duty in all four provinces of the country,the senior official said.He said that countries including China, Germany and Kingdom of Saudi Arabiawere interested to invest in SEZs in different regions of the country.
Board of Investment launches multiple initiatives to bring Pakistan under 100 Rankings in EODB
