LAHORE: A meeting of Provincial Working Group on Ease of Doing Business and Regulatory Modernisation Initiative was convened to review the implementation status of Sixth Reform Action Plan. The meeting was co-chaired by Hashim Jawan Bakht, Minister for Finance and Jawad Rafique, Chief Secretary, Punjab.
During the meeting, Imran Sikandar Baloch, Secretary Planning & Development Board, Punjab shared the progress on various reform initiatives being implemented by different departments. The Finance Minister instructed all departments to create ease for the business community in order to create the true spirit of ease of doing business. He further stressed on actively communicating the reforms and updated processes to the business community to increase transparency and awareness.
Furthermore, representatives from Board of Investment gave a detailed presentation on Pakistan Regulatory Modernisation Initiative currently under implementation by the Federal Government. The initiative is to be simultaneously implemented in Punjab to improve the business environment by reducing bureaucratic procedures.
The meeting was attended by Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Secretary Finance Department, Waqas Mehmood, Secretary Excise, Ahmed Javaid Qazi, Secretary Labour, Ali Jalal, Programme Director, PIU, P&D Board and other senior representatives of government departments.
MoU: University of Education (UOE) and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) on Friday signed an MoU under which both parties will jointly work to execute the National Freelance Training Programme while using their resources. The MoU was signed by the UOE Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha and Director General E-Governance PITB Sajid Lateef. A UOE spokesperson said that thousands of students would be provided training to empower unemployed youths and create self-employment opportunities. National Freelance Training Programme, a project, sponsored by Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, was aimed to empower unemployed youths to earn an honourable income online. Both parties will take initiatives to create awareness about the training programme. Around 50 percent students enrolled would be from University of Education. According to the MoU, the University of Education would provide access to computer lab with capacity of 50 students, besides assisting PITB to conduct training at mutually selected premises. The UOE will supervise the training programme. Talking to the media, Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha said that after the successful completion of the training session, the participants will be able to earn handsome livelihood.