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Write a note on Ease of Doing Business Index (World Bank rating) and talk
about Pakistan and its ranking in critical areas?
Pakistan has improved its ranking by jumping up 28 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business
Index, reaching the 108th position. Pakistan carried out six reforms last year that helped improve its
ranking from 136 to 108, according to the World Bank’s annual flagship report “Ease of Doing Business
2020”.Besides this, Pakistan is among the 10 economies that improved the most in ease of doing
business after implementing regulatory reforms. The economies with the most notable improvement in
Doing Business 2020 report are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China,
India, and Nigeria.

Pakistan has improved its score to 61 from 52.8, suggesting that the country did remarkable work and
built on the reforms introduced in the previous year. Last year, Pakistan was ranked 136th among the
190 nations surveyed. The report stated that Pakistan improved the most in the list as it developed an
ambitious reform strategy by setting up a national secretariat as well as a prime minister’s reform
steering committee to ensure progress.

Most of the reforms evolved around the Doing Business indicators. Doing Business working groups have
been set up at both municipal and provincial levels, stated the report.The World Bank said that Pakistan
made starting a business easier by providing more options through the online one-stop-shop. This
reform applies to both Karachi and Lahore. Furthermore, Pakistan (Lahore) abolished the Labor
Department registration fee.

Dealing with Construction Permits

Pakistan (Karachi specifically) made obtaining a construction permit easier and faster by streamlining
the approval process and also made construction safer by ensuring that building quality inspections take
place regularly. Pakistan (Lahore) also made obtaining a construction permit easier and faster by
streamlining the approval process and by improving the operational efficiency of its one-stop-shop for
construction permits.

What is the Ease of Doing Business Index?

The Ease of Doing Business index is used as a guide by foreign investors to learn more about a country,
aiding their decision on investing in the economy. The report is based on surveys carried out in Lahore
and Karachi. The results are based on the work done from November 2018 to June 2019.
It measures how close each economy is to global practices in business regulations, on the measure of
absolute progress towards best practices. International investors consult the report and the Global
Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum before taking decisions on investment plans.