Muneeb ur Rehman

Despite being a huge consumer market, Pakistan is among those developing countries that attract low foreign direct investments. The Pakistan Board of Investment’s (BOI) initiative to establish a one-stop-shop facility for investors will help scale up the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI), said Zulfiqar Ali, Director General of Reforms in the BOI. Discussing the BOI’s modernization initiatives, he said, “The one-stop shop will provide investors with a wide range of facilities including the provision of NOCs and registration services”. According to the Ministry of Finance economic update and outlook, Pakistan’s FDI stood at USD683.5 million during the first half of the Fiscal Year 2022-23, showing a decrease of 44.2% compared to the last year.

Source: CEIC (Census and economic information centre)

One of the major hurdles in the way of foreign investment is the cumbersome and time-taking process of getting permissions from different government departments, he said. In order to save the time of investors, all relevant government departments including the ministries of finance, labour, and commerce, will be linked online so that the transaction cost for foreign companies can be minimized, he added. Zulfiqar underscored the importance of online portal for ensuring transparency.

“One-window facility is a great step towards ensuring transparency. Any manipulation on part of any government official that might otherwise be possible through in-person dealing will be minimized,” he asserted. “Red tape is yet another loophole in our system. It tends to annoy investors and encourages them to review their decision of anticipated investment in the country”. He expressed optimism that the one-stop facility will address the issue as well. Pakistan needs a high volume of foreign investment to generate employment. The inflow of reserves through foreign investment is likely to solve the perennial current account deficit problem. It can be hoped that the one-stop-shop facility will bring positive outcomes to the economy.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk