By Hamid Mahmood ISLAMABAD, March 09 (INP-WealthPk): Prime Minister Imran Khan recently authorized One-Stop Service (OSS) in the Special Economic Zones developed jointly by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority and the Board of Investment (BoI). Foreign investors encounter two sorts of obstacles when planning to invest in Pakistan, according to Adnan Khan, a socio-economic development specialist, in an interview with WealthPK. "First, investors are confronted with difficulties in obtaining a Pakistani visa and completing requirements of the appropriate department. Investors are unsure how to obtain a letter of permission from Pakistani officials in order to obtain a visa. When they get to Pakistan, they are unsure where to go. If an investor wants to invest in the textile industry, he has no idea where to go. Who can cope with him and lead him to?" "Second, after investors arrive in Pakistan, they need contacts of the nine departments to get different NOCs, such as security, environmental, SECP, FBR, licenses, permits, and so on." There are a total of 39 NOCs and approvals that foreign investors must get before beginning business in Pakistan. According to Adnan, the Pakistani government converts all NOCs into an undertaking, excepting SECP due to its digitalization. The investor should sign the undertaking to ensure that all compliance requirements are met one by one when the time comes. To make it easier for investors, the government changes regulatory systems into compliance regimes. Signing an undertaking makes it significantly easier for an investor to launch their firm," said the CPEC official. To solve these issues, the CPEC authorities established a single point of contact for international investors. Anyone interested in investing in SEZs should contact the CPEC administration. After interviewing sectoral specialists and stakeholders, the authority should select which investor goes to which relevant sector. According to him, the BoI and the CPEC Authority have jointly devised a legal framework to enable an all-encompassing facilitation model for provision of services to investors through one window operation, which is structured around only three entities, namely, investor, OSS, and service provider, based on consultations held with all major stakeholders, including SEZ developers, zone enterprises, and service providing departments. Business process reengineering, elimination of regulatory requirements through risk-based methodology, implementation of compliance regime, joint inspections, empowerment of developers and other entities. Delegation of maximum powers by government entities to the OSS focal points for grant of approvals are all possible under the said regime. After modifying the BOI special economic zone legislation and passing it through parliament, the government attempts to make it a legal framework. Adnan said in the past, various attempts were made at the federal and provincial levels to facilitate investment through introduction of such windows in order to speed up the delivery of public services. However, due to a lack of legal cover and administrative coordination to enable a special regime to override the general rules in the current legal statutes, none of these endeavors were able to provide end-to-end services to industrial users. Without a doubt, OSS is a great initiative for international investors in SEZs, but the Pakistani government should focus more on enhancing trade facilitation, loosening regulatory restrictions, and raising transparency. Furthermore, a better business climate would lower both direct and indirect transaction costs. With strong leadership and dedication, the government should build a uniform and transparent SEZ regulatory framework. A special economic zone (SEZ) should be considered as part of a national or regional development plan. To promote private sector engagement, a finance mechanism such as public-private partnerships should be used wherever possible. By reducing time and transaction costs, the OSS is projected to increase system transparency and efficiency.