LAHORE: The Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab, on Tuesday undertook an extensive review of the federal government’s ongoing economic governance reform programme, with Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha directing senior officers to align the provincial anti-corruption framework with the broader objectives of transparency, digital transformation and institutional accountability envisioned under the Prime Minister’s Economic Governance Reforms (PM-EGR). The directions were issued during a high-level review meeting convened at ACE Punjab headquarters to deliberate upon the key outcomes and reform priorities emerging from the Economic Governance Conference (Policy Dialogue) held in Islamabad on April 28 and 29.
The conference had been attended on behalf of the DG ACE Punjab by Additional Director General Nadeem Hussain, while Director Vigilance Wazir Khan Virk also participated in the review proceedings and briefed the chair on the deliberations, policy commitments and implementation roadmap discussed during the federal policy dialogue.
The meeting was informed that the Islamabad conference constituted a major national level governance initiative aimed at synchronising the reform efforts of more than 20 federal and provincial institutions alongside international development partners, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), to modernise Pakistan’s economic and regulatory governance framework.
During the briefing, the DG ACE Punjab was informed that the PM-EGR framework revolved around 15 Reform Actions (RAs) comprising 59 specific action items spread across multiple strategic governance pillars.
A substantial portion of the reform agenda focused on digital transformation and automation of governance mechanisms. The conference, participants said, strongly emphasised the adoption of “single window” governance models to minimise procedural delays, reduce discretionary powers and improve transparency in public administration.
In this regard, the federal government was pursuing the nationwide implementation of the Electronic Procurement and Disposal System (EPADS) aimed at ensuring transparency, accountability and value for money in public procurement processes. Similarly, the complete digitisation of approvals and licensing procedures at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) was identified as a critical intervention for reducing the cost of doing business and facilitating investment activity.
