Islamabad: The government is planning to merge the ministries of industries, production, and commerce, as well as the Board of Investment (BoI), a news source reported. It is working on devising a plan for this purpose, in order to improve the implementation of its proposed policy reforms. For the same reason, the government is also seeking to consolidate its existing institutions at the federal level.
After this merger, the government plans to establish a National Competitiveness Council (NCC). This body will include the relevant representations from the federal, provincial, and private sectors. It will also feature a dedicated secretariat linked to the Prime Minister’s (PM) Office.
With the consolidation of the said ministries, the government expects to improve policy designs and the implementation of programmes; measures which will also ensure better services delivery. To make this possible, the executive will reportedly empower the NCC with a comprehensive mandate for designing and executing competitive interventions at the federal and provincial levels. The council will also be responsible for ensuring that the provinces officially endorse these policies, as well as the promotion frameworks created for small & medium enterprises, trade, and investment.
The plan for establishing the NCC was included in a project document that has been submitted to the World Bank (WB) for financing. WB officials are expected to visit Pakistan in July 2019 to review this initiative, titled as ‘Pakistan Goes Global: An Initiative for Global and Technology-driven Pakistan’.
