ISLAMABAD - Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, chaired a strategy meeting to review progress on Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) in Board of Investment.

Advisor to PM on Institutional Reforms, Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Board of Investment Chairman Mr. Atif Riaz Bokhari, Secretary Commerce, Secretary BOI and senior officers from BOI and FBR attended the meeting.

During the meeting, Chairman BOI shared the progress on different initiatives being undertaken under the umbrella of PRMI, including mapping of various regulatory requirements, regulatory guillotine and licensing of small businesses at local government level. BOI further shared the developments on Pakistan Business Portal, a part of Pakistan Goes Global Project, which is an online portal that will allow all types of businesses to find relevant regulatory requirements submit their application online and electronically pay the relevant fees as well.

While appreciating the efforts being undertaken by BOI to pursue these reforms, Mr. Razak Dawood said that the Government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, aims to provide a business friendly and hassle free environment to invite more domestic as well as foreign investments from business community. Mr. Razak Dawood also stressed the need to take the business community on board to generate a meaningful dialogue for meeting the intended goals of the project.

Advisor Commerce commended the KP Government for removing unnecessary local government registration, Licences and NOCs, and said that other provinces should also follow in their footsteps. However, Mr. Dawood noted that there is a need to pursue aggressive communication and advocacy campaign to highlight such success stories.

Discussing the issues pertaining to FBR, Mr. Razak Dawood advised them to come up with a plan to facilitate businesses, particularly with respect to customs clearing issues on the ports.

The Chair asked the BOI to build capacity and ensure hand holding of small provinces and regions for effective launching of similar regulatory reforms process in their areas.

Mr. Dawood directed to hold the next meeting of Steering Committee of PRMI in last week of June 2020.