LAHORE: The government has simplified the process of getting a no-objection certificate (NOC) for new businesses, an official said.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Investment Facilitation Cell at the Chief Minister Secretariat, Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht said: “NOCs will be issued in 7 to 10 days, keeping in view the nature of businesses.”

Getting a NOC was always a serious problem for the investors, he said, adding: “The present regime is providing all possible facilities to investors for ensuring economic growth and prosperity in the country.”

The new industrial zones have been set up and the government was paying special attention to the manufacturing sector for reducing dependence on imports, he said.

“Material testing laboratories have been set up to decrease dependence on other countries,” the minister said, adding that the present government was bringing reforms, which have not been introduced in the last 70 years.

The Cabinet members and senior bureaucrats, as well as local and foreign investors and representatives of the chambers of commerce and industry, attended the event.