World Bank lists Pakistan 6th amongst top 20 Global Reformers in their latest Doing Business Report 2020!
Pakistan Doing Business (DB) Ranking/Score 2020
- 10 business indicators are measured across 190 countries. In Pakistan two cities Karachi (65% weight) and Lahore (35% weight) are mapped.
- Our ranking improved by 28 positions to 108 from 136 in 190 countries.
- Pakistan’s ranking improved in six indicators as mentioned below.
Indicator | Positions Jumped | DB20 Rank | DB19 Rank |
Overall – out of 190 | 28 | 108 | 136 |
Starting a business (reform) | 58 | 72 | 130 |
Dealing with Construction Permits | 54 | 112 | 166 |
Getting Electricity (reform) | 44 | 123 | 167 |
Registering Property | 10 | 151 | 161 |
Paying Taxes | 12 | 161 | 173 |
Trading Across Borders | 31 | 111 | 142 |
Getting Credit | (7) | 119 | 112 |
Protecting Minority Investors | (5) | 28 | 26 |
Enforcing Contracts | 0 | 156 | 156 |
Resolving Insolvency (Negative Data Correction) | (5) | 58 | 53 |
DB20 recognized the following six major reforms in Pakistan:
- Company can now be registered in one day with SECP, FBR, Labour Dept, PESSI, SESSI and EOBI. Only SECP portal is used. End to End integration of 9 departments
- Getting construction permits now takes 2 months in Lahore and 3 months in Karachi as opposed to 8 months originally.
- Commercial property can now be registered in 3 months in Lahore and 4 months in Karachi instead of 8 months.
- Commercial electricity connection can now be obtained in 3 months in Lahore and 4 months in Karachi. Online portals launched. Tariff changes are announced in advance
- Online payment of Taxes has been introduced. The time for paying taxes is now measured as 3 hrs instead of 293 hours. Tax rates for small companies reduced from 25% to 24%
- WEBOC Customs software has reduced time to export from 75 hrs to 24 hrs and for Imports 120 hrs 55 hrs
Way Forward
- More focus on areas like Getting Credit and contract Enforcement
- Eliminating the redundant regulations and remove unnecessary permissions/ NOCs and inspections under a new initiative called “Better Business Regulatory Initiative” This is step toward a better business regulatory environment.
- Remove requirements for physical inspections as pre-conditions to registrations with corporate, regulatory or tax authorities (save in respect of high risk cases).
- Amalgamate registration portals and where separate portals are required, offer a single access method to all such portals (similar to the approach adopted in New Zealand and the UK).