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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday held a meeting on regulatory reforms to review measures taken to facilitate business activities, promote investment and make the regulatory system more effective, transparent and business-friendly.
The prime minister said that regulatory reforms are indispensable for facilitating business activities and promoting investment. “The government is taking effective steps to facilitate the business community and eliminate unnecessary regulations,” he said. The prime minister directed that a regulatory registry be established so that all regulatory requirements, rules and regulations existing in the country could be compiled under a comprehensive system.
He said that a delegation from SIFC should visit all the provinces and take the provincial governments into confidence about the process of regulatory reforms. The prime minister directed Adviser on Industries Haroon Akhtar Khan to lead the delegation.
In another development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the export of an additional 70,000 metric tonnes of Pakistani rice to Malaysia would prove to be a significant step for the national economy while ensuring prosperity of farmers.
He said enhancing access to global markets for Pakistani agricultural products was the government’s top priority.
The prime minister also directed the Ministry of Railways to take effective measures to improve passenger facilities and ensure the safety of people travelling by train.
The prime minister issued these directives during a meeting with Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, who briefed him on matters concerning the ministry and ongoing development projects.
Meanwhile, the prime minister spoke by telephone with Azhan Kashif, son of Pakistani national Kashif Umar, who was killed in Somalia, and expressed his heartfelt condolences over the death of Syed Kashif Umar.
The prime minister assured the family that the government would make all possible efforts to bring the bodies of his father and the other two Pakistani nationals killed in the incident back to Pakistan at the earliest. He directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all other relevant institutions to remain in direct contact with the families of Kashif Umar and the other two deceased Pakistanis at every stage.
Shehbaz announced financial assistance, free education for the children and a house for the families of the three Pakistanis — Syed Kashif Umar, Mahmood Ahmed Ansari and Rafiullah Khan — who were killed during the recovery operation off the coast of Somalia. The prime minister announced financial assistance of Rs12.5 million for each family of the Pakistani nationals killed during the recovery operation.
