We hold Business Recorder in high esteem, but your editorial "Ease of doing business" (April 25) contains undue criticism of regulatory authorities without taking into consideration various reforms introduced by relevant organisations involved in Doing Business, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

In order to improve the investment climate and to create conducive business environment, the government of Pakistan prepared a National Doing Business Reform Strategy in 2016, which provides reform recommendations covering all World Bank Group (WBG) Doing Business Indicators. The said strategy is currently being implemented both at the national and provincial levels.

The SECP is the lead agency for Starting a Business Indicator of WBG. In pursuance of the government's Doing Business Reforms Strategy, the SECP has taken a host of reform measures, which have resulted in a robust corporate growth in the country, leading to formalization of the business sector and documentation of economy. Based on the reform measures during the last couple of years, the country's ranking in the doing business indicator has improved. In the recently released World Bank Doing Business Report 2017, Pakistan has been named as one of top ten countries classified as most improved economies in 2015-16. Overall doing-business ranking has improved by four points from 148 to 144, and Distance to Frontier score has improved by 2.29 % points.

In the starting-a-business indicator, Pakistan has a ranking of 141 and stands favourably against India ranked at 155. As a result of reform measures taken during2015-16, a total number of days to start a business decreased by one day from 19 in 2016 to 18 in 2017, and total cost as percentage of per capita income decreased from 13.9% to 12.4%.

The reforms have also resulted in an enhanced corporate growth, with a 34% increase in new incorporations during Jul-Mar 2017 over the comparative period of last year. Various reforms instituted during the past couple of years range from advancement in electronic registry operations on the one hand and facilitation offered through easing of regulatory controls on the other have resulted in reduction in time, cost and number of procedures to register a company. Furthermore, the SECP has expanded its physical outreach through establishment of new offices and facilitation centers in different cities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017