GUJRAT: The Punjab government is going to launch Business Facilitation Centres (BFCs) in Gujranwala, Sialkot and three other major cities of the province in the next couple of weeks.

The BFCs will feature the counters of at least 18 departments of the provincial government, where no objection certificates (NOCs), required for starting news businesses, will be issued under one roof within 10 to 15 days of submitting applications.

The applicants would be able to get at least 110 types of NOCs to be issued by different departments at these BFCs.

The caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi is likely to inaugurate the BFCs in Gujranwala and Sialkot, which are part of the ‘golden industrial triangle’, by January 10 and 11, respectively, a senior administrative official of Gujranwala region told Dawn on Saturday.

He says the BFCs in both the cities are being completed speedily, adding that the Gujranwala centre is being established in a hall located in the compound of the commissioner’s office, whereas that of Sialkot is being set up in Anwaar Club Auditorium, that has been lying vacant for long.

Three other major cities will also have BFCs soon

The establishment of BFCs in major cities of the province is an initiative of provincial industries department. After successful launch of the BFC in Lahore, the government has decided to expand the initiative to at least five more cities of the province.

Industries department Secretary Ehsan Bhutta, who paid a visit to the BFCs being set up in Gujranwala and Sialkot, told Dawn that apart from these two centres, such facilities are also being set up in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Multan.

He said the training of at least 50 staffers belonging to 18 different departments has already been launched, adding that these officials will be initially posted in the BFCs in the five major cities. They are being trained with the assistance of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) in Lahore.

He said the caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakkar and Punjab CM had also commended the initiative.

Punjab, he said, had requested the federal government to approve the setting up of help desks of various federal departments, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) etc, as well at the BFCs for the convenience of business fraternity.

Earlier, Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi, DC Fayaz Mohal and Sialkot DC Muhammad Zulqarnain also briefed the industries secretary about the progress on the work being done to set up BFCs in the two cities.

The presidents of chambers of commerce and industry of both the cities have also lauded the initiative, expressing the hope that it would help in ending the bureaucratic and other hurdles to the business start-ups.

It is learnt that all these centres will be connected with Lahore BFC and e-payment facility will also be offered for depositing fee online with the help of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024