The Sindh government plans to reduce the number of regulatory permissions the investors have to seek before launching their enterprises to promote industrialisation in the province. The multiple regulatory permissions for investors are a big hindrance to the development of the province’s industrial sector. Keeping this in mind, the Sindh industry department is working on a plan to reduce human interaction with regulators by facilitating online applications and e-payment submissions. “There are multiple inspections of factories by agencies that have created problems for industrialists,” Amir Siddiqui, Director Sindh Industry Department, said. He said the government was committed to making the province an easy and competitive investment hub in Pakistan by pursuing a reform agenda to facilitate ease of doing business.

He said a strategy was being formulated under which all inspections by the relevant departments and agencies like Sindh Employees Social Security Institution, labour, power and others, would be carried out in one day by a team of inspectors. He added that such inspections would be done every two years. Moreover, Siddiqui said a mobile application was being developed for taxpayers concerning the Sindh Revenue Board. The multiple regulatory permissions in Sindh have put brakes on the industrialisation in the province. Though industrialisation started in Punjab later than Sindh, the former has fared well over time across all variables such as number of establishments, average daily employment, value of fixed assets, value of production, industrial cost, etc.

In terms of overall progression, Sindh’s share in industrial output has dwindled with a parallel increase in Punjab, which can be attributed to the deteriorating security situation in Karachi, where most of Sindh’s industries are concentrated, as well as the regulatory requirements, in which Punjab fared better than Sindh. The industrial sector in Sindh has been demanding the facilitation in terms of regulatory permissions, with the latest demand coming from the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association, seeking to clip multiple industrial laws to a single legislation for all industries in Sindh.

The effort is spearheaded by the investment department that works to promote investment in all sectors of the economy, facilitate local and foreign investors in the speedy materialisation of their projects, enhance Sindh’s international competitiveness, and contribute to economic and social development. The aim is to bring together initiatives and action on reforms, as taken by multiple provincial departments and agencies, to facilitate ease of doing business in the province. While aiming to improve the business environment of the province, the doing business reform agenda also seeks to improve Pakistan’s ranking on the global doing business benchmarks.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)