Govt seeks proposal for privatising PIA’s New York property

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) on Wednesday sought proposal from the management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to sell a hotel of the state-owned airline in the US.

Senior officials of PIA apprised the committee regarding the current status and prospects of Roosevelt Hotel New York, which is a foreign property of the airline. The committee said that formal proposal in this regard might be finalised by June. Finance Minister Asad Umar presided over the meeting of the cabinet committee on privatization, according to an official statement. Minister for Privatization Mohamed Mian Soomro was also present on the occasion.

Last year, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government delisted 15 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including PIA, from the list of privatisation.

The other SOEs, which were removed from the list of privatisation, include National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan State Oil, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and Sui Southern Gas Company.

Earlier this week, the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet approved Rs5.6 billion in loan guarantee to PIA for repair and maintenance of engines and acquisition of spare parts for operationalising grounded planes.

The committee was further informed that the Privatization Division achieved progress of various degrees on divestment of government shares in and sale of at least seven public sector enterprises.

Secretary Privatization Division apprised the meeting about the progress on the active privatisation list, which includes National Power Parks Management Company, Small and Medium Enterprise Bank, Services International Hotel, Lakhra Coal Development Company, Jinnah Convention Centre and the First Women Bank Ltd. The government also planned to divest its residual stake in Mari Petroleum Company. The committee was informed that progress of various degrees had been achieved on the PSEs.

The CCoP was also briefed on follow-up action on decisions taken in the meeting held on 31 October, 2018.

The commerce division was directed to fast-track study/evaluation regarding insurance and reinsurance sector along with the need for regulatory framework improvements, which should precede process of privatisation of State Life Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Company Limited and Pak Re-Insurance Company. The division would present its report in this regard to the CCoP by 31 March. The petroleum division was directed to expedite the work on regulatory framework for creation of competitive marketplace for gas sector.