Doing Business: Pakistan among top 10 improvers

KARACHI: As a result of massive economic and social reforms, improving the law and order situation, Pakistan is among this year’s global top 10 improvers in doing business and improved its rank to 144 as compared to 148 in 2015.

Among other South Asian countries, Pakistan improved four steps, India improved only one step and ranked 130 from 131 in 2016 while Bangladesh improved two steps to rank 176. According to the report, New Zealand ranked first, Singapore ranked second and Denmark stands on fourth, the UK ranked seventh.

According to the latest report of the World Bank Doing Business 2017, titled “Equal Opportunity for All”, the world’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken, are Pakistan, Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Belarus, Indonesia, Serbia, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Reports said Pakistan’s position in the doing business global rankings improved to 144 out of 190 economies this year, as against 148 in 2015 under the latest methodology. Pakistan’s Distance to Frontier score, a measure of distance each economy has moved towards best practice expressed as frontier at 100, in Doing Business Report also improved from 49.48 in 2015 to 51.77 this year.

Pakistan announced a three-year roadmap to improve its global ranking on doing business earlier this year. Consistent with that, the country completed three reforms in the past year in registering property, getting credit and trading across borders, the highest number in a single year over the past decade. According to the report, Pakistan improved access to credit information by legally guaranteeing borrowers’ rights to inspect their own data.The credit bureau also more than doubled its borrower coverage, thereby increasing the amount of creditor information and providing more financial information to prospective lenders.

Pakistan now ranks second in the South Asia region in the area of getting credit. Cross-border trade was eased by updating electronic customs platforms in Lahore and Karachi. It now takes less time for an exporter to comply with border regulations and in Lahore transferring property was made easier by improving the quality of land administration through digitising ownership and land records, making land administration more reliable than before.