FBR, SECP, EOBI, LCCI sign MoU for ‘One-Stop Shop’

Taking a giant leap forward in terms of building a world class facilitation business community, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish physical one-stop shop at the LCCI premises to facilitate business community to get registration of SECP, FBR and EOBI.

The MOU was signed by LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Bajwa, Chairman Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Tahir Mahmood and Director General EOBI Iqbal Haider Zaidi. LCCI Senior Vice President Mian Tariq Misbah, Vice President Kashif Anwar, LCCI President elect Ijaz A Mumtaz, newly-elected Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir, former presidents Mian Muzaffar Ali, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Executive Committee members Dr Qurat ul Ain, Shahzad Ahmad, Kamal Amjad, Waqar Ahmed Mian, Sheikh Muhammad Fayyaz, Raja Adeel Ashfaq, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, Khawaja Khawar Rasheed, Umer Khalid from Implementation and Economic Reforms Unit and Fozia Abid from the ministry of finance were also present on the occasion.

The MOU between SECP, FBR, EOBI and LCCI aimed at providing a single interface for businessmen/investors intending to get their company registered with the SECP followed by NTN/tax registration with FBR and employers registration with EOBI.

The OSS system will be hosted by the LCCI because of its commitment to provide the requisite capacity to administer the POSS system setup. The LCCI will provide all necessary facilities in this regard. The POSS arrangement will apply in respect of the procedures of company name registration and company incorporation with SECP, NTN/Income Tax Registration with FBR and Employer’s registration with EOBI.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari while lauding the matchless cooperation of SECP, FBR and EOBI, said that physical one-stop shop for company registration will provide simplicity and facilitation for businessmen for export, attaining membership and exploring newer markets for Pakistani products.

He said that physical one stop shop was being formed with the cooperation of SECP, EOBI and FBR but there were many more departments to follow.

He said the standing committee of code of corporate governance has been working very meticulously for making the physical one stop shop a success.

He said starting from the very contribution of bridging the gap between the business community and the government, the LCCI had always tried to play a supportive role using its good office to work for the prosperity of the country and to ease the procedures for doing business in the country.

Engineer Sohail Lashari said the step which the Lahore Chamber had taken to form one stop shop will not only facilitate the business community but will also affect positively on the economy of the country.

Engineer Sohail Lshari paid rich tributes to the efforts of Umer Khalid from Implementation and Economic Reforms Unit and Fozia Abid from the ministry of finance for making this historic memorandum of understanding between SECP, FBR, EOBI and LCCI viable.

Umer Khalid and Fozia Abid informed the participants that Implementation and Economic Reforms Unit (IERU) of the finance division had been coordinating the development of one stop shop (OSS) for new business registration in collaboration with the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). They said these three agencies signed an MoU in December 2013 for establishment of a virtual one stop shop through an online portal. The POSS being set up at LCCI would use the VOSS system which would become operational by October 2014 to provide facilitation in business registration procedures related to SECP, FBR and EOBI in one physical location.