PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday said the provision of conducive environment to investors through ease of doing business was the topmost priority of the government to ensure considerable revenue generation and self-sustainability of the province.

He was chairing a meeting here on the steps taken for the ease of doing business, said an official statement.

The officials told the chief minister that the Ease of Doing Business Cell had been established at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade, while an online application system with an e-payment option had been rolled out.

They said a favourable credit line for small and medium enterprises through the Bank of Khyber would be launched very soon.

The officials said steps had been taken to eliminate duplication of taxes and regulations regarding NOC, fee, tax, licence and other facilities to facilitate investors.

Reviews steps for ease of doing business

The chief minister ordered the re-molding of institutions to improve structural, functional, advisory and facilitative process at the KP-BOIT and relevant provincial agencies regarding investment.

He said the government was striving to promote trade across the border and that the opening of the Torkham border for 24 hours had a great impact on both imports and exports.

The statement said the annualised impact of 24/7 operation at Torkham border was very graceful with Rs32 billion increase in exports and Rs4.4 billion increase in import duties at an annualised cost of only Rs0.1 billion per year.

The government had formed a committee under the chairmanship of the finance minister to promote the ease of doing business in the province.

Through the committee, besides four consultative sessions with both public and private stakeholders, the mapping of 66 regulations across 15 different departments of the province has been completed.

The regulations mapped cover various aspects including licences, permits, registration, no objection certificates, taxes, fee/charges, inspections and identification of duplication of regulations.

The meeting was further informed that the draft of the revised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial Policy 2020 was ready for consultation with stakeholders, while the draft of the investment policy for newly-merged areas was in final stage.

Also, the formulation of the provincial trade and commerce strategy is under process and has been shared with the industries department.

The one window services will be given to the existing and new investors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The chief minister underlined the need to speed up work on the development incentive plan for the newly-merged tribal districts and said the creation of enabling environment in merged areas should be the priority by focusing on development of potential sectors, including education sector with an emphasis on vocational and technical training.

“The main objective is to create investment and business-friendly environment for both local and foreign investors and companies,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2020