Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday inaugurated the first-ever Business Facilitation Center (BFC) here with a vision to promote ease of doing business and attract investment in Pakistan by providing a one-stop solution to investors and entrepreneurs. Established by the Board of Investment, the BFC will facilitate the business community by providing a wide range of services, including guidance on regulatory requirements and facilitating business registration, licensing, and permits.

It will serve as a one-stop service, reducing hurdles and facilitating efficient interaction between businesses and government entities.  The prime minister, who was briefed on the center’s functioning, including the investors’ guidance, application for special economic zones, licensing and payments procedures with drastically reduced timelines, also unveiled the plaque of the project, vowing to replicate it across the country if it fulfills the desired objectives. 

He thanked the Minister for Board of Investment Qiaser Ahmed Sheikh, Secretary BOI, and their team for establishing the country’s first-ever facilitation center and particularly for recruiting a highly talented and competent workforce who were engaged in dealing with customers as the prime minister spoke to the gathering.  The prime minister urged all the relevant departments to efficiently run the center to make it a success by facilitating and guiding the investors or people from other sectors, just like other countries. 

“Otherwise, this will be nothing more than brick and mortar. That is not my vision… We should welcome customers with a smiling face combined with genuine support without any delay, not even for a second,” he advised.  Prime Minister Shehbaz called for making the facilitation center attractive and popular in other countries and establishing it as a model, paving the way for its replication in other parts of the country. 

In his remarks, BOI Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh called the establishment of the center a breakthrough in investment facilitation.  He said that earlier, the investors had to visit various departments to accomplish the required procedures for setting up their businesses; however, the BFC will reduce this hassle, besides remarkably reducing the timelines. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz, who also visited different desks of the facilitation center, was told that the investors would be able to submit their applications for setting up special economic zones or other projects at the center, by answering different queries such as the nature of the business, loan and equity structure, target market, export potential, expected employment generation, and utility requirements. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)