PM Imran elated over World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the improved World Bank rating of Ease of Doing Business (EODB) by 28 notches, and said that Pakistan, by the end of 2020, would become one of the top destinations for investment.

“Another of our manifesto commitments fulfilled, this time on Ease Of Doing Business. Pakistan achieves biggest improvement in its history in World Bank’s EODB rankings,” the prime minister said in a tweet after the report was released by the bank, lauding improvements in regulatory frameworks.

The prime minister said over last decade Pakistan’s ranking had slipped more than 50 places and now had improved 28 places, from 136 to 108.

“I want to congratulate all the people in our government who worked hard to make this happen,” he said, and stressed that there was still a long way to go.

The World Bank acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts on carrying out reforms in six areas which led the country to jump from last year’s 136th spot to 108 in this year’s ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020’ report.

The WB also listed Pakistan among the top ten improvers along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait, China, India, and Nigeria.

The report lauded the country for following an ‘ambitious reform strategy’, and for setting up a national secretariat and a Prime Minister’s reform steering committee which has been following up on the programme.

The report focused on two major cities, Karachi and Lahore, and acknowledged the various reforms taken by the government in those cities.

Commending Pakistani authorities on the report, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Illango Patchamuthu said “this rise is significant and made possible by collective and coordinated actions of Federal Government and Provincial Governments of Sindh and Punjab over the past year.

“The accelerated reform agenda has many noteworthy features to improve quality of regulations, reduce time and streamline processes. This momentum needs to be sustained in the coming years for Pakistan to continue to make progress,” he further said.