PESHAWAR: Restructuring capabilities and streamlining the public sector processes are key to enable ease of doing business in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Adnan Jalil, KP Caretaker Minister for Industries, Commerce and Technical Education on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the meeting of the National Network of Economic Thinktanks-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chapter organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here.
The minister said that restricting human resources in TEVTA has so far resulted in saving of Rs 2.6 million monthly.
He said that financial and power constraints faced by the caretaker government will prevent delivery of relief to the business community. The minister said that the business community is struggling to survive in an unbalanced environment and stressed the need to streamline the procedure and processes to avoid delays.
Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, in his welcome remarks said that KP southern cluster has immense untapped economic potential.
He said that such deliberative sessions before the announcement of budget will help in articulating policy advice for the government to reflect on for strengthening trade and economic development.
Ahad Nazir, Head, Center for Private Sector Engagement, shared the preliminary findings of a survey conducted by SDPI in KP. He said difficulty in graduation for firms was observed which is hindering increase in firms becoming exports.
The speaker said that poor coordination between government departments results in duplication of policy burden and lack of inclusive industry data results in policies which are generalized and not tailored based on different demographics.
Ahad Nazir said that SDPI will serve as the Secretariat for the National Network of Economic Think-tanks.
He reiterated SDPI’s interest on bridging the policy gaps identified by government departments, updating private sector policy developments, review policy documents and bridging gaps between academia and industry for strengthening research environments to meet the industry demand.
Iqbal Sarwar, Director, Business Facilitation, KP-BoIT, said that a mapping activity resulted in identification of 170 regulations for businesses in KP which need to be simplified and thirty regulations so far have been simplified or removed.
Muhammad Salman Khan, Secretary, Swabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed on educating exporters on international standards and accreditation to tap into the export potential to regional markets.
Qurat-ul-Ain, CEO, Ain Consulting urged the designating focal persons for improving interdepartmental coordination to simplify regulatory environment and suggested forming committees to connect industries, academia, and government bodies to improve their communication and collaboration.
Kiran Fida, Project Manager, CGPA stressed on briefing the business community on regulations and emphasized on addressing challenges faced by women entrepreneurs through policy initiatives.
Dr Muhammad Yasir, Chairman, Department of Management Sciences, Hazara University, called for bridging academia-industry gap to promote indigenous production of chemicals and other products and reducing import reliance.
Rasheed Paracha, the founder of the Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that unfavorable regulatory environment have discouraged locals and the sector is dominated by Afghan refugees.
He urged for commercial policy to create a level playing field and limiting the number of businesses that refugees can run to enable small local businesses to flourish.
Rashid Aman, Manager, SMEDA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sought upgrading the scale of cottage industries to transform the export landscape in the province.
Ishfaq Ahmed Afridi Manager, Business Planning & Support, Commercial Department, Government of KP said specific economic zones have been developed in many cites based on specialized products to add value to products.
Taimur Khan, an institutional development expert at SEED, suggested smart solutions and public-private partnerships to overcome the sector’s challenges.
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