ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has gained top ranking amongst its South Asian competitors according to the IFC - World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2010 report published this week.
The report ranks 183 economies around the world based on 10 indicators of business regulation that record the time and cost of meeting government requirements in starting and operating a business, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business.
Pakistan is currently ranked at 85 out of 183 countries ahead of all the BRIC countries; China (ranked 89), India (ranked 133), Russia (ranked 120) and Brazil (ranked 129) and also all other SAARC countries. Over the past year Pakistan has started an online registration system for sales tax and lifted a requirement for a document that has reduced the time taken to register a business by four days.
Re: Ease of doing business: Pakistan 1st in S. Asia
This is great news but Pakistan has taken the top spot for a number of years.
The security situation is the biggest issue for Pakistan. Almost all risk assesments have proven negative for FDI in Pakistan due to this unfortunate situation.
I was working with a Hedge Fund in relation to investments in formerly state owned enterprises, and despite the strong numbers and the thumbs up from the quants, the deal fell apart due to the political crisis emanating from the extremist threat to the country.
The security situation is the biggest issue for Pakistan. Almost all risk assesments have proven negative for FDI in Pakistan due to this unfortunate situation.
That is true. Unfortunately, we have many "educated" illiterates who can not see that development of country is inversely proportional to insecurity. As the insecurity increases, development will decrease.
Such people had their eyes completely shut when mosques and madressahs were eulogizing Taliban's "jihad" against their fellow Muslims in Afghanistan. Such people were 'summum bukmun' when sectarian violence in the country was taking lives of tens of people everyday. In short, most Pakistanis were pro-Taliban and pro-violent fasad. They used to think that this "jihad" is only against minorities and foreigners, and that this violent "jihad" will not touch their own lives.
Of course, in the end, Taliban proved themselves otherwise. And now almost all Pakistanis are united against them.
However, during those 20 years when we Pakistanis supported fasadi culture, Pakistan's security conditions brought Pakistan to abyss. It destroyed Pakistan's society and darkened the future of Pakistan's children.
There can be no development when people in general endorse violence of any kind.
