ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government said on Wednesday that it would introduce a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs to attract investments to the country, with plans to set up ease of doing business centers in all four provinces in the next three months.  

Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, made the announcement while addressing a news conference along with the Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI), Haroon Sharif.

“Our efforts are focused on improving the ranking of the country in terms of doing business,” Dawood said, adding that the process of industrialization has started in the country which will create job opportunities for the youth.

Pakistan is currently ranked 136 among 190 economies of the world in terms of its ease of doing business. The government is now struggling to improve the ranking to 100 in the current financial year.

Dawood said that work was also underway to issue promissory notes to exporters to clear their outstanding tax refunds amounting to around Rs200 billion. “This will resolve the liquidity issue of the exporters and help boost our exports as well,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Sharif said that regional countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia had expressed “great interest” for investments in different sectors of the economy.

He said that Saudi Arabia was setting up an oil refinery in the deep sea port of Gwadar, while Pak-Arab Refinery Limited Company (PARCO) was also planning to set up a similar facility in Pakistan. “These countries have also expressed an interest for investment in hotels, resorts, and the food processing units,” he said.

Sharif said that under the new tourism policy of the government, there is no restricted area in the country and businessmen can invest in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and Balochistan, too.

“We are issuing business visas in 24 hours now,” he said, adding that “businessmen can now apply for a visa online without going to Pakistan’s embassies."

He said that the online visa facility would be extended to 60 countries of the world.

Talking about taxes, he said that the government has simplified the tax payment procedures for businessmen while the number of taxes have also been reduced from 47 to 16.

“Businessmen can now pay their taxes online as well,” he said, adding that laws will also be framed to ensure that the businesses have “easy access to banking credit."