ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) is all set to seek Federal Cabinet’s approval of first package of regulatory reforms with respect to ease of doing business whereas the second package would be introduced next month, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
At a recent meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, the Board of Investment claimed that the Government of Pakistan had launched Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP) to enhance digital access and infrastructure through improving digital governance and service delivery capabilities of public sector institutions at the federal, provincial and local government levels.
The BoI was spearheading Component-II of the DEEP which would support modernization of regulatory regime in Pakistan at federal, provincial and municipal levels.
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The aimed end result of component-II was establishment of Pakistan Business Portal (PBP) after completion of mapping of regulations/laws, analysis of relevance of mapped regulations, elimination and simplification of unnecessary laws and lastly, automation of all relevant business regulations and initiation of e-payment system of all relevant charges.
The DEEP was declared effective on May 2, 2024, after the approval by the World Bank’s Board on March 22, 2024. The total cost of the project was $78 million. The BoI component (component-II) in the project was $15 million (Rs. 3,584.055 million) and around $ 0.946 million (Rs.212.624 million) for PIU setup.
The final outcome of Component-II was the Development of PBP at a cost of $15 million for the first fiscal year of the project, ie, 2024-2025. A budget of Rs. 447,141,991 had been allocated for component-II of the DEEP, which pertains to BoI.
At the time of approval of the project, a single account was allowed to be opened in the name of the MoIT&T.
However, to utilise the funds effectively and to achieve the designated goal of each agency, three different revolving fund accounts (RFAs) were required to be opened for MoIT&T, the Nadra and Board of Investment. A position paper was moved by MoIT&T in order to allow opening of three different RFAs and sent to the Planning Commission and the Finance Division.
Consequently, the CDWP held on August 13, 2024, decided that a single revised authorization would be issued, clearly specifying each executing agency with respect to its component wise-allocation in the project.
The BoI further briefed the ECC that in pursuance of the CDWP directions, a revised authorization for the project was issued on August 20, 2024, by Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and all executing agencies of the DEEP were allowed to issue separate administrative approval of the project with respect to their component as per the approved cost break-up; following which, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication issued a revised administrative approval with respect to DEEP, surrendering funds of Nadra and BoI.
The BoI had issued the revised administrative approval as required for the opening of a separate Revolving Fund Account and release of funds.
In order to operationalise the Red Flagged Account (RFA) and ensure reallocation of the funds surrendered by MoIT&T in favour of BOI, a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) needs to be approved through ECC.
During the ensuing discussion, the ECC was apprised about the whole project. The forum inquired from the BoI about the measures taken to reform the regulatory regime from the perspective of ease of doing business. It was informed that the first package of reforms had been prepared on fast-track basis which would be placed before the Cabinet in due course. It was also informed that the second package of reforms would be introduced by March, 2025.
The forum emphasized that the regulatory reforms should be implemented alongside other initiatives to enhance investors’ confidence.
After discussion, the ECC approved TSG to the tune of Rs.477.142 million to be disbursed to the Board of Investment in its separate account for component-II of the DEEP for first year (2024-25).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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