KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that he was actively working to introduce Investment and Business Enabling Reforms (Ease of Doing Business) by deregulating the business environment and facilitating business by reducing procedures.
This he said on Saturday while speaking as a chief guest at Pakistan South East Asia Business Forum organized at a local hotel.
He said that his government has executed 15 procedural reforms, eliminated the need to take NOC s from SEPA and, SBCA for certain categories. “We have reduced time for water and electricity connections and have also digitalized more than 90 percent of land records and more than 50 percent of land record archives,” he said.
Murad Shah said that his government was working on plans to urgently review provincial taxation collection systems distributed across different agencies for new businesses and make them online and rationalize their collection procedures and points. “We are is set to open business facilitation centers in Karachi and then in other bigger cities in the province,” he said and added “we are launching an online business registration portal which will be available in all departments, business facilitation centers and then on mobile apps.” Elaborating it further, he said the portal would allow a new business to register with industry, labour, excise, SECP and FBR through a single application.
The Chief Minister said that Karachi’s weight in the World Bank’s Doing Business index is 60 percent and Government of Sindh was committed to improving Pakistan ‘s ranking which was currently at 147.
He said that he was also committed to developing new and bigger business in Hyderabad, Sukkur and other resource rich cities in the province. “One of the important factors for the success of Ease of Doing business reforms is communication and awareness,” he said and added “we are working closely with the private sector who is advising improvements and also helps projection of our efforts.” He added that a very capable private sector Advisory Committee has been formed for guidance. Being chief minister he said he was committed to re-industrializing Sindh and unleashing prosperity through business.
Murad Shah said that in order to attract investment and Business Opportunities in the province the provincial government has significantly contributed to resolving Pakistan‘s energy crisis by building power plants based on renewable and indigenous fuel ( Thar, wind etc). He added that the road network throughout Sindh under CPEC and onwards into Punjab and into Baluchistan has created opportunity for new industries, and trade, by providing business access to domestic markets.
He said that agriculture business is a priority of his government and we support it financially and strategically. “Warehousing, logistics, food processing, aquaculture along 300 km coastline of Sindh, value added exports of agro produce, better farming and water usage, technology inputs, and support for rice milk modernization (BMR) are some of the areas we are working in,” he said and added “work on research for better crops, trading of produce on the mercantile exchange, and collaterized is in progress.” Talking about textile, the chief minister said that textiles has been the major export earner and we are focused on encouraging value added textiles and garment manufacturing. “Since Karachi is the city where the auto manufacturers do business and the provincial government is keen to support auto parts manufacturing,” he said and added his government was facilitating large investments in refineries, steel, cement and petrochemicals as demand for these essential growth components in Pakistan continued to rise. He said that his government has earmarked the development of a 300 acres Marble city to mobilize marble and stone refining and processing industry on a large commercial scale to increase export revenues.
Talking about tourism industry, chief minister said that tourism and commercial hospitality was supported and encouraged. He disclosed that his government has plans to develop modern tourist resorts and entertainment centers at Keenjhar, Gorakh Hill, Karachi and in other parts of the province. He said that there was tremendous opportunity for hotels in Sindh secondary cities and all possible support was available for these projects. “Sindh should be a place to do more business and also a place to go for tourism given its history, culture, and beauty,” he said.
Murad Shah said that Special Economic Zones (SEZ) were being established Dhabejji under CPEC projects. “Pakistan first three SEZs are in Sindh and the first SEZ at Khairpur,” he said and added that provincial government has invested more than Rs50 billion to develop the SEZ.
The chief minister said that the development of Dhabejji SEZ under CPEC was scheduled to begin by the end of this year. It spread over 1500 acres and is located within 40 km of two ports and the airport, and 20 km from one of Pakistan’s oldest industrial estate at Landhi. It is set to be Pakistan’s best connected and most viable SEZ in Pakistan. The zone will have steel mill, a petrochemical factory, a logistics park in collaboration with NLC, a food processing park, an auto parts centre, garment manufacturing factories etc.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that his government welcomes all industries from all partner countries to do business in Dhabeji SEZ. “Dhabeji SEZ will also have a five star hotel and a state of the art vocational center, 1.5 km train line station and for the purpose a request for a dedicated cargo terminal has been placed with Ministry of Railway,” he concluded.