Better trade to improve Punjab's global ranking

LAHORE - A World Bank Exploratory Mission has said that removal of impediments in creating an enabling business environment in Punjab would help improve its global ranking in doing business.

This was stated by head of World Bank team, Mehnaz S Safavian while talking to LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian on Friday. LCCI Vice President Shafqat saeed Piracha, former LCCI President and Vice President SAARC Chamber of commerce Iftikhar Ali Malik, former Senior Vice President Sohail Lashari and Manuel E Garcia of World Bank also spoke on the occasion.

The WB team leader said that if the government of the Punjab takes appropriate measures towards improving business environment, the Punjab's world ranking can improve from existing 82nd position to 52nd.

Mehnaz said that improvement in the business climate, increased opportunities and incentives for firm to invest productively, creation of jobs and an enabling regulatory environment are the main factors that result in improving living standards.

She said the doing business indicators are a very powerful tool that provides the policymakers, the international donor institution, investor community and macro-policy researchers with a set of indicators, annual data, and an in-depth analysis which enable them to benchmark an economy's regulatory environment for businesses. Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian said that Pakistan has to go a long way in terms of improving its businesses environment. Doing business in Pakistan is becoming more and more expensive.  In particular, Pakistan has a lot to improve with regards to starting a business, getting credit and trading cross boarders. Pakistan also needs to do a lot of work in the areas of registration of property, employment of workers and above all in investor protection.

He said that the cost of doing business is increasing due to our exposure to IFIs-imposed structural reforms' conditionalities and cross conditionalities resulting in higher oil prices, utility charges and tighter fiscal policy and monetary policy.  

Today, we are again faced with an imminent slow down in the manufacturing sector due to withdrawal of subsidies especially from oil, gas and electricity.  In the Budget 2008-09 the government announced reduction in important subsidies for food, oil, gas and electricity.  

The LCCI Vice President Shafqat saeed Piracha said that cost of doing business is set to further rise in Pakistan due especially due to misplaced and ill-timed withdrawal of subsidy on oil, gas and electricity.   

This is going to suppress industrial development growth in Pakistan.  This is especially going to suffocate the development of SMEs in manufacturing sector that despite lack of policy focus and difficulties in accessing credit and modern training facilities played an important role in employment generation and exports since the mid 1970s.  

Instead of imposing micromanaging our economy and imposing harsh conditionalities on us the IFIs and the World Bank should provide us more help in the areas of technical knowledge and skills for improving our social and physical infrastructure.    

Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI former President Iftikhar Ali Malik urged the World Bank team to help establish raw Material banks in Pakistan as the shortage of raw materials is hitting the whole industrial sector.