BoI's Vision for Streamlining SEZ Services
The Board of Investment (BoI) is envisioning a transformative approach to streamline services for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) investors in Pakistan.
BoI's Vision for Streamlining SEZ Services
The Board of Investment (BoI) is envisioning a transformative approach to streamline services for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) investors in Pakistan. This innovative initiative seeks to create a seamless, time-bound process for applications through a One-Stop Service (OSS) window, ensuring quick access to all essential services, clearances, licenses, and permits required for SEZ businesses.
Historically, both federal and provincial levels have attempted to provide investment facilitation through similar one-stop windows. Unfortunately, these efforts fell short of delivering end-to-end services to industrial users due to legal constraints and administrative challenges.
As Pakistan's premier investment promotion agency and the secretariat for SEZs and industrial cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), BoI is leading the charge to establish a comprehensive facilitation model. This model aims to provide investors with end-to-end industrial services.
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Over the past five months, BoI has collaborated with various government departments to understand their procedures, requirements, and statutory obligations. The goal is to ensure the protection of public interests while expediting services.
Following extensive consultations with stakeholders, including SEZ developers, zone enterprises, and service providers, BoI and the CPEC Authority have jointly designed a legal framework for an all-encompassing facilitation model. This model revolves around three key entities: the investor, OSS, and service provider. The OSS acts as a bridge, connecting investors with service providers. Additionally, this regime encourages business process reengineering, eliminates regulatory hurdles through a risk-based approach, enforces compliance, conducts joint inspections, empowers developers and entities, and delegates maximum powers to OSS focal points for approvals.
Lt. Col Shakeel Shah (retd) emphasized the need for a robust law to effectively operate across all SEZs in Pakistan. This law, developed in consultation with the CPEC Authority, draws from BoI's past experiences and international best practices, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, and Dubai.
On December 27, 2021, the SEZ facilitation model received approval during a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. Provincial governments and federal ministries were directed to collaborate with BoI to finalize implementation details, including necessary amendments to legal statutes for developer empowerment, regulatory reduction, and a robust compliance regime.
In a subsequent meeting on January 5, 2022, it was decided that BoI would once again engage in exhaustive stakeholder meetings to finalize implementation details, ensuring timely progress, and a brighter future for SEZ investors in Pakistan.