One of the failures of the present government, official sources conceded, is its inability to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan and that inexpensive and timely infrastructure facilities such as land, electricity, gas etc were needed to be offered to the local and foreign investors.

According to one safe estimate, also approved by some government officials privately, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) could double within one year if various hurdles and impediments in the way of businessmen are removed by the government.

However, the concerned government officials frequently quote the new report of World Bank/International Finance Commission (IFC) which says "doing business became easier in India and Pakistan in 2005-06", adding that five reforms in India and two in Pakistan reduced the time, cost, and hassle for businesses to comply with legal and administrative requirements.

No other South Asian economy improved its business regulations in 2005-2006, ranking the region last in the pace of reforms.

India, as leading reformer in South Asia, has taken over the top spot from Pakistan in last year's report. India cut the time to start a business from 71 to 25 days and reduced the corporate income tax rate from 36.59 per cent to 33.66 per cent.

A Supreme Court decision made enforcing collateral simpler, easing access to credit. New risk management procedures in customs lowered

import time by two days and exports by nine days.    Reforms to stock exchange rules toughened investor protections. Pakistan was the runner-up reformer in South Asia this year.

Background discussion with some officials revealed that the government urgently needs to simplify business registration, cross-border trade, and payment of taxes, as well as easing access to credit and strengthening investor protection without which no meaningful investment could take place in the country.

The research on Pakistan in the World Bank/IFC report was conducted by Dr Zafar Moeen Nasir, senior economist at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economist (PIDE). He believes the situation has slightly improved as far as the cost of doing business in Pakistan is concerned.

"The problem is that we have too many laws, our bureaucracy is non cooperative and our tariffs, especially those relating to customs, are still high compared to other countries. Then we do not have proper infrastructure which is particularly in bad shape

in transport sector. All these things have become a big hurdle in the way of the investors," he said when approached.

He also said that while power rates were still high, the frequent electricity breakdown was further causing problems to the industrialists. He quoted an example of an investor from Libya who recently came to Pakistan and despite making all efforts, he could not get the required support to set up his business from the Board of Investment (BoI).

"Later, he came to us and we helped him to some extent," he said adding that BoI needed to be made a vibrant organisation in a bid to providing all possible facilities to the investors in the country. Like Dubai and China, Pakistan should also provide instant

infrastructure facilities to the investors under one roof if at all real local and foreign investment was to be attracted, he said.

A former senior official of the Planning Commission and former head of PIDE, Dr. A. R. Kamal said that World Bank/IFC report has shown some improvement as far doing business in Pakistan was concerned.