Board of Investment Drafts Zero Time to Start Policy to Bring Investment

The Board of Investment has drafted a Zero Time to Start (ZTTS) to reduce regulatory barriers and improve the ease of doing business to boost private investment from foreign and domestic sources. The decision comes after consultation with the World Bank and continuous demands by international investors to optimize the process of starting a business, reported Business Recorder. Private investments account for only 11 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the lowest among regional countries i.e. India (29.1), China (35.2) and Uzbekistan (21.2). Pakistan also ranks 108 among 190 countries regarding ease of doing business with new businesses bound to get through three levels of regulatory frameworks of Federal, Provincial and Local Government. ZTTS Policy draft comes under the Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) which aims to cut down the regulatory hurdles for business entry and structure the registration and issuance of permits and licences. ZTTS Policy implementation will require PRMI to specific actions which will later be approved by the PRMI Steering Committee. The plans contain time-bound inspections and issuance NOCs, Analysing the relative utility of all NOCs and inspection procedures and eliminating unnecessary processes, building consensus among all regulators for the effective adoption and implementation of the policy, identifying the changes required in the legal frameworks of the regulatory agencies for adoption, Public consultation following the Regulatory Impact Assessment  (RIA), dialogue with key stakeholders i.e. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry FPCCI, Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce & Industry – O1CCl and Pakistan Business Council – PBC and taking on board the federal regulators for final commitments for policy adoption The proposed action plan will also include other incentives for the regulators for the swift adoption of these policies in addition to the reduction in administration costs and an optimized flow of processes aimed at higher risks.