Federal Minister/Chairman Privatisation Commission Mr. Abid Hussain Bhayo, chaired the 204th Board meeting of Privatisation Commission (PC). Federal Secretary Dr. Iram. A. Khan, Board members and senior officials of the Ministry attended the important meeting.
The PC Board was apprised about the current status of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSMC) and some unresolved matters regarding to its revival. The PC Board deliberated on those bottlenecks and proposed for early resolution of these matters involving all the stakeholders from the Federal government at the earliest.
The Board was also briefed about the privatisation of House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFCL), as Privatisation Commission along with Financial Advisors are engaged in marketing exercise of the entity. Fresh EOI/SOQ have been advertised with October 17th and 31st, 2022 as respective deadlines. The decision to advertise the EOI afresh was taken to make the transaction more competitive and transparent.
The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) had approved in 2019 the divestment of 20% GoP shares of Pak Reinsurance (PRCL) through Secondary Public Offering. The Board was also apprised about the overall progress in the privatisation of SOEs, including PSM and HBFCL, NPPMCL and JCC.
The matter remained suspended on account of absence of consensus among various stakeholders (MoC, PC, SECP, SLIC) pertaining to the maintenance of majority GoP shareholding even after the divestment of 20% shares of PRCL.
The Board unanimously endorsed that in order to maintain majority shareholding of the Government of Pakistan in PRCL, the Federal Government must reserve its majority in the company. Hence the proposal be placed before the coming meeting of CCoP for moving ahead.
The PC Board’s approval was sought about the strategy to resolve different issues of Sindh Engineering Limited (SEL) and Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO) which have blocked their privatisation.
It was briefed that the constitution of SEL Board and appointment of a permanent MD will enable the implementation of necessary decisions with regard to its privatisation.
The Board members proposed that the matter may be placed before CCoP in its upcoming meeting.
The Federal Minister/ Chairman Privatisation Mr. Abid Hussain Bhayo emphasized that the ongoing privatisation programme and transactions included in it is going to be successful with a robust coordination from the concerned Ministries and Divisions. He further added that unless we build a system of strong communication and cooperation among the stakeholders, the privatisation plan will not run on fast track.
