ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday he had decided to change the existing tax regime and investment policies in the country to provide ease of doing business to the business community and investors.

He said the government was promoting wealth culture in the country to provide opportunity of wealth creation to investors.

“Today the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue said in a meeting that wealth creation was not a bad thing. I was happy to hear this from a bureaucrat like him because it means that the mindset of the bureaucracy is also changing,” the prime minister said while addressing an economic forum at a local hotel.

PM tells economic forum he was happy to hear FBR chairman remark in a meeting that wealth creation isn’t a bad thing

He said making money through legal means was not an offence, but there was a mindset in the country that always criticised wealth creation.

“Today I chaired a meeting and realised that such a system has evolved in the country that it is very difficult for investors to invest in Pakistan,” the prime minister said.

He, however, said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was determined to introduce investment-friendly system and policies. “We have to boost our industry and for that purpose the government will get feedback from the business fraternity,” he added.

Prime Minister Khan said his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad and the United Arab Emirates rulers had told him that unless he provided opportunities to create wealth, Pakistan could not prosper.

The prime minister said the menace of poverty could not be overcome without wealth creation. “If an investor earns money its trickle-down effect will reach the gross-roots level,” he added.

Earlier, the prime minister chaired a meeting to review progress on improving ease of doing business and creating an enabling environment to facilitate conversion of interest of local and foreign investors into actual investments in the country.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Asad Umar, Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood, Board of Investment (BOI) chairman Haroon Sharif, federal secretaries and senior officials.

Prime Minister Khan directed the BOI chairman to present a comprehensive plan, listing all the issues in various sectors and their sub-sectors, and how the processes could be streamlined to simplify procedures related to government approvals, address taxation issues and dispute resolution and facilitate investors/businesses.

Haroon Sharif, briefing the prime minister about the steps taken so far, said the BOI would be serving as agent of change for facilitating business transactions, removing impediments in way of materialisation of investors’ interest into actual investments and smooth functioning of the business in the country.

He also talked about various issues being faced by the business fraternity, including taxation, access to finance, regulation and policy issues and red tapism.

The BOI chief said that his organisation was also actively working with the provinces and relevant ministries for removing barriers in the way of establishing special economic zones.

He said special efforts were being made to bridge the gap between private and public sectors and to reach out to the private sector to revive its confidence in government policies and put in place a framework that facilitates business fraternity in its business pursuits.

Mr Sharif also briefed the prime minister about the Naya Pakistan Diaspora Fund which is being set up to promote small and medium enterprises and rural development in key areas of education, health and infrastructure development. He also apprised the meeting of the investment framework which had been structured to attract and materialise investment from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and Malaysia.

It was decided during the meeting that the prime minister would chair a review meeting every month on ease of doing business in the country.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2018