Govt urged to improve ease of doing business

ISLAMABAD: Experts on Monday called on the government to improve the ease of doing business (EODB) for the private sector, as it would help revive the country’s economy.

They were speaking at a pre-budget digital consultation on better business regulations jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and National Textile University Faisalabad (NTUF).

Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) CEO Dr Erfa Iqbal said Punjab government was looking forward to receive proposals from the business community prior to finalising the provincial budget for the next financial year.

Dr Erfa added that all sectors of the economy needed to come up with specific suggestions about taxes, business facilitation, and access to infrastructure, investments, and other related aspects of doing business.

NTUF Rector Dr Tanveer Hussain emphasised that the prosperity of a country was dependent on industrialisation. In Pakistan, textile industry plays a pivotal role despite that the turn out of the exports has been low during last ten years.

“We need to focus on value-addition and reliance on renewable energy in addition to improving research and development,” he added. Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) Regional Coordinator Shaban Khalid said Pakistan needed to improve EODB, and requested all chambers of commerce and industries to highlight their capacity building needs.

SDPI Joint Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed highlighted the fact that the upcoming federal budget would be formulated under difficult circumstances as government’s resources were overly stretched due to pandemic-related spending. “Therefore, the private sector needs to play a role in building back better.”

Textile sector would play an important role in supporting Pakistan’s balance of payments and its exports would be much needed to help post-pandemic economic recovery, he said.