ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Monday said that efforts were being made to modernise the corporate sector by bringing about improvements in corporate laws.

Addressing a launching ceremony of Pakistan Corporate Governance Assessment Report 2018, organised by World Bank and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the minister urged the regulators including SECP and Pakistan Stock Market (PSX) to fully facilitate the corporate sector in order to enhance its productivity and contribution to the economy.

He was of the view that there was need to change the fundamental operating procedures for the corporate sector to achieve the desired goals, adding the government was focusing on improving governance in public sector enterprises.

Comparing private and public sector organisation, the minister said the procedures for procurement were quite complex in the public sector compared to private sector.

He said the cabinet had given approval to change the multilateral procurement rules. The minister also highlighted the importance of increasing incorporation of companies and asked for making the compliance system of departments easy to facilitate investors.

We want to encourage more and more companies to come into the fold of corporatisation, incorporate themselves and then many of them can go on to become listed companies, the minister remarked.

He was of the view that the listed companies could utilise the capital market, to mobilise national savings and allocate those savings into productive assets.

Also the finance minister applauded the World Bank’s recognition of Pakistan’s enhanced implementation of corporate governance principles in its report on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on corporate governance.

The outcomes of the assessment would contribute to the government reform agenda to improve the investment climate, the attractiveness of the capital market, and public sector company (PSC) reforms, the minister added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019