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- May 7, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
ISLAMABAD: A committee for discussions with the Center on the matter was established on Monday by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, just a few days after he openly opposed the government’s intention to privatize loss-making public firms. The party’s central secretariat released a statement stating that Sherry Rahman, Syed Naveed Qamar, and Saleem Mandviwalla are the members of the committee. “Engage with the government over privatization issues” is what the committee will do. Mr. Bhutto-Zardari announced last week that his party would bring up the privatization issue with the federal government and persuade them to choose public-private partnerships to revive companies like Steel Mills and PIA. He made these remarks while addressing an event celebrating Labour Day.
As part of the structural reform program agreed with the IMF, the previous government had planned to privatize certain entities. The statement highlighted disagreements between PML-N and PPP, allies in the federal government, on this matter. Dawn was informed by one of the three committee members, Mr. Mandviwalla, that the privatization process was still unclear. We would communicate with the government, ask for information about their privatization plan, and undoubtedly weigh the benefits and drawbacks. “We think that privatizing any institution is not that easy to announce and carry out,” the PPP leader said to Dawn. He recommended public-private partnerships as an alternative to privatization, which would involve outsourcing the operations of companies.
The concept of granting private buyers managerial control and selling shares of a government firm, according to Mr. Mandviwalla, “hasn’t worked.” Therefore, our main goal is to communicate with the administration, find out the specifics of their plan, and provide our opinions on the matter. According to media sources, ten corporations have indicated interest in purchasing majority holdings in PIA. Three domestic airline businesses are among the companies that have submitted tender applications. The consortium of Shujaat Azeem Group, Fly Jinnah, AirSial, Arif Habib Group, Tabba, Tariq Group, and Sehgal companies have also expressed interest in purchasing the majority of PIA’s shares, Dawn was informed by sources.