English: Data source: Ease of Doing Business Index by the World Bank. http://www.doingbusiness.org/ Map based on Image:BlankMap-World-v5.png. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Doing business with Pakistan has always been the easiest in South Asia. However Rupee News is appealed at the low ranking that Islamabad has gotten this year. The ease with which Pakistan can be done business with has been falling every year for the past four years. Pakistan used to get stellar marks during the Ayub era, Bhutto times, and during the Nawaz Sharif, Benazir and even the Musharraf era. It has gotten bad marks during the Zardari era.
Being better than Bharat is no reason to rejoice, because it has always been very difficult to do business in Bharat. Pakistanis should never benchmark Bharat in almost anything. Islamabad should benchmark, New York, Beijing, Ankara, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The current index show that.
- Pakistan dropped 3 places to rank at 107 in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index for 2013, according to data released on Tuesday.
- In the South Asian region, however, Pakistan ranked third, below Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and left Bangladesh and India trailing behind at 129 and 132 respectively.
- While Bangladesh also fell five places, India maintained its position compared to 2012.
- Within Pakistan, Faisalabad led the pack in Ease of Doing Business with the next five places also going to cities from Punjab. Karachi ranked in at number 9.
Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Most of the issues can be resolved administratively. A one stop window can be built which would eliminate barrier to opening business. The structural issues should be resolved by short term tasks and a long term strategy. According to the index’ website, “economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 185.”
A high ranking on the index means “the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.”
Pakistan’s GDP used to be higher than Bharat. More than 200 multi-nationals operate in Pakistan. Many Middle Eastern investors have made a lot of money in Pakistan–especially in the Telcom fields. The One Window concept has to be staffed with Arabic, and Chinese staff. Some of the comments are unacceptable. Pakistan’s horrid performance in electricity:
- Pakistan performed worse off, compared to 2012, on almost all indicators and benchmarks used to formulate the index.
- The country fared poorly on ease of businesses receiving an electricity connection and trading across borders, compared to last year.
- It received the lowest rank, 171, on getting electricity. While it takes 206 days to get an electricity connection in Pakistan, the South Asian average is 148 days.
- The index measures ease on the following benchmarks: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
The PPP government has to bring in fresh blood and establish panels to create One Stop Windows for all foreign investors.
The current ranking, even though it is higher than that of Bharat is not-acceptable.
