QUETTA: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will extend its One-Stop-Shop (OSS) facility for company registration in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

SECP Commissioner Shaukat Hussain announced the facility for the provinces while speaking at the launch ceremony of Balochistan’s Trans­formation of Traditional Businesses into Corporate Bodies.

Hussain apprised the audience that the SECP’s eServices have already been integrated with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). Further, the SECP’s eServices have also been linked with business registration portals of Punjab and Sindh at the provincial level.

Consequently, he said the eServices have been transformed into OSS for registration of companies with SECP, FBR, EOBI, Punjab/Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI/SESSI), Excise & Taxation Department and Labour Department of Punjab and Sindh.

Shaukat Hussain, while appreciating Balochistan government’ initiative said that a formal economy where registered businesses pay taxes and create jobs to contribute to the overall economic growth is the need of the hour.

Therefore, it is high time that immediate steps have been taken to encourage business registrations, he added.

The attendees of the event were also enlightened on recent reforms by the SECP to facilitate entrepreneurs and reduce time and cost of starting new business including simplified incorporation process, significant reduction in fees, reducing time for incorporation to four working hours and facility for payment of fee through mobile and internet banking.

SECP commissioner underlined that the regulator’s reforms led to 27 per cent increase in companies’ registration in 2019.

He also apprised the audience about the recent launch of SECP’s startup portal and proposed amendments in the Companies Act, 2017 to promote startups especially in the technology sector.

Balochistan chief minister, Industries secretary and Board of Investment director general appreciated the SECP initiatives for introducing ease of doing business and assured their cooperation for implementation of OSS in Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2020