LAHORE: The government has established one-window service centres (OWSCs) at all industrial estates in the province in a bid to facilitate local and foreign investors in solving various issues regarding ease of doing business.

The concept behind establishing the one-window centres at the industrial estates is to provide multiple services to the local and foreign investors via single platform, facilitation to existing customers in well-defined timelines, hassle-free service through SMS tracking and mobile application etc.

“With this, the one-window operation has been extended to all industrial estates being regulated by the Punjab Industrial Estate Development Management Company (PIEDMC). It is a great initiative which plays an important role in ease of doing business,” said Provincial Minister for Industries, Commerce and Investment & Skill Development Mian Aslam Iqbal while inaugurating the One Window Service Center at the Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate on Tuesday.

The government believes that the centres would help in modernising mechanism for monitoring and surveillance, easy access of applicants, standardisation of service delivery across the province, simplifying transaction procedures, minimising costs to applicants and increase satisfaction level of the applicants. The record of 1,186 existing clients at Sundar, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari and Bhalwal industrial estates has also been made part of the these centres’ database.

The minister said the provincial government had declared Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park special economic zone where one-window service centre had also been established to provide various facilities to the local and foreign investors.

“This modern industrial estate will not only play a vital role in bringing prosperity in Pakistan but would also provide 500,000 to 600,000 employment opportunities besides opening the doors to young and new entrepreneurs. This would also help achieve the provision of 5 million employment opportunities to new entrants leading to achieving the vision of PM Imran Khan,” he explained. He said the QAAP would have a grid station, underground electricity network, dedicated interchange, technical education centre and labour colony.

PIEDMC chairman Shoaib Zahid said the one-window operation would provide all the facilities to the existing & new comers. “The representatives of the FBR and the SECP have been stationed at the OWSC while efforts are under way to also appoint officials of the SNGPL, Pessi, Environment, Labour, EOBI and respective power distribution companies (Discos),” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2019