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).