Sindh launches business registration, property tracking portals

KARACHI: The Sindh Business Registration Portal (SBRP) was launched on Wednesday at the ‘Sindh Doing Business Reforms Exhibition-II’ as part of the ease of doing business reforms in the province.

The Board of Revenue Sindh also launched its portal for tracking of property deeds at the event. Through this portal citizens would be able to view progress of their property registration online. The event was hosted by the provincial government’s Investment Department, while the World Bank and Department for International Development (DFID), UK provided technical support for the implementation and facilitation of the reforms, a statement said.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said, the World Bank’s Doing Business report was an important measure with economic and political consequences, and that the report has become one of the most important indicators for companies choosing countries to invest in.

He reiterated the resolve and commitment of the government to undertake more reforms and adopt policies to create an enabling environment for the private sector.

Abdul Razzak Dawood, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production and Investment, who was the keynote speaker, said the government was focusing on creating an enabling business environment by furthering the agenda of the reforms.

World Bank Country Director Illango Patchamuthu congratulated the Sindh CM for spearheading the DB reforms, and also lauded the efforts of the provincial departments that completed several reforms as part of a series of 100-Days DB Reform Sprints. The Third 100-Days Reform Sprint has been successfully completed, while the Fourth 100-Days Sprint commenced at the occasion.

Patchamuthu said it was critical that the on-going reform momentum was sustained to help Pakistan become a competitive and business-friendly investment destination. DB reforms were prominently featured in the Pakistan@100 initiative, which aims for the country to be in the top 25 economies globally by 2047.

The support extended by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to the Sindh government was acknowledged at the event. This technical support was given in designing, testing and launching the Sindh Business Portal as well as training relevant departments to effectively use it to facilitate private sector investment.

The SBRP has been launched as an online regulatory approvals and inspection interface. The portal would ensure businesses registration swiftly by providing access to a slew of online services, cutting down the cost, time and effort of visiting multiple government departments for the purpose.

Entrepreneurs can register their business with four provincial departments at the Portal: Labour and HR Department (Shops and Establishments), Sindh Employees Social Security Institution, Industries Department (Partnership Firms), Excise and Taxation.

The portal would develop links between provincial departments and federal departments (NADRA and SECP) for smoother and swifter business registration. In Sindh, the most salient DB reforms have been in the following four indicators: starting a business, registering property, getting construction permits, getting electricity.