KARACHI. Despite the grim economic outlook, the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 shows that Pakistan has jumped 28 places and ended up on the 108th spot, and has also acknowledged Pakistan for making notable improvements for doing business in the country.
The bank acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts on carrying out reforms in six areas which led the country to jump from last year’s 136th spot to 108 in this year’s ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020’ report, which was released on Thursday.
In the report, New Zealand and Singapore were able to maintain the first and second spots, respectively. While, China moved to number three from last year’s four and pushed Denmark to the fourth spot.
New Delhi also made a significant improvement in its ranking by ending up on the 63rd spot from last year’s 77.
The World Bank in its reports also listed Pakistan among the top ten improvers along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait, China, India, and Nigeria.
The report lauded the country for following an ‘ambitious reform strategy’, and for setting up a national secretariat and a Prime Minister’s reform steering committee which has been following up on the strategy.
The report stated that South Asia was the region with the highest share of economies implementing trade reforms in ‘Doing Business 2020’.
The report focused on two major cities Karachi and Lahore and acknowledged the various reforms taken by the government in those cities.
Commending Pakistani authorities on the report, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Illango Patchamuthu said “this rise is significant and made possible by collective and coordinated actions of Federal Government and Provincial Governments of Sindh and Punjab over the past year.
“The accelerated reform agenda has many noteworthy features to improve quality of regulations, reduce time and streamline processes. This momentum needs to be sustained in the coming years for Pakistan to continue to make progress,” he further said.
The WB lauded Pakistan for easing up the process of starting business by setting up an online one-stop. The report also acknowledged Pakistan for allowing the process of obtaining a construction permit easier and faster by streamlining the approval process and also made construction safer by ensuring that building quality inspections take place regularly.
According to the report, Pakistan made getting electricity easier by enforcing service delivery time frames and by launching an online portal for new applications. The reform also included increasing the transparency of electricity tariff changes.
The report also said: “Pakistan (Karachi) made property registration faster by making it easier to execute and register a deed at the Office of the Sub-Registrar. Pakistan (Lahore) made registering property easier by increasing the transparency of the land administration system.”
Tax payment has been made easier by introducing online payment modules for value added tax and corporate income tax, and less costly by reducing the corporate income tax rate. This reform applies to both Karachi and Lahore, said the report.
Pakistan made trading across borders easier by enhancing the integration of various agencies in the Web-Based One Customs (WEBOC) electronic system and coordinating joint physical inspections at the ports.
