ISLAMABAD: Britain’s development minister Jenny Chapman said on Saturday Pakistan’s sweeping new regulatory overhaul could generate economic gains of nearly £1 billion a year, as Islamabad formally launched the reform package aimed at cutting red tape and attracting foreign investment.

The initiative, driven by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and the Board of Investment, aims to introduce legislative changes and procedural reforms designed to streamline approvals, digitize documentation and remove outdated business regulations.

Chapman said the UK had worked with Pakistan on 472 reform proposals as part of its support to help the country shift from economic stabilization to sustained growth.

“These reforms will break down barriers to investment, eliminate more than 600,000 paper documents, and save over 23,000 hours of labor every year for commercial approvals,” Chapman said at the launch ceremony in the presence of Sharif and his team. “The first two packages alone could have an economic impact of up to 300 billion Pakistani rupees annually — nearly one billion pounds — with more benefits to come.”

Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said the reforms were central to Pakistan’s effort to rebuild investor confidence after the country narrowly avoided financial default in recent years.

“Our economy was in a very difficult situation when we took office,” he said. “But we did not lose hope, and today Pakistan is economically out of the woods. Now we are focused on growing our economy and attracting foreign investment.”

He described the new regulatory framework as a “quantum jump” that would reduce corruption, speed up approvals and remove longstanding procedural hurdles that have discouraged businesses.

Chapman told the audience that more than 200 British companies operate in Pakistan, with the largest six contributing around one percent of Pakistan’s GDP.

She said the UK saw Pakistan as a partner rather than a recipient of aid.

“Modern partners work together not as donors but as investors, bringing all our strengths to the table,” she said, adding that the reforms would make Pakistani exports more competitive and encourage UK firms to expand their footprint.

Sharif highlighted the role of the British Pakistani diaspora and said Pakistan hoped to unlock more private capital by engaging diaspora entrepreneurs and financial institutions in the UK.