The Privatization Commission held a Meetup with the stakeholders to discuss the prospects for the privatization of State Owned Entities(SOEs) on 13th September, 2019 in Karachi. The event was attended by large number of prospective Financial Advisors, Members of major Financial Institutions , Banks, Asset Management Companies and members of the Brokerage Houses. The Board Members and the Secretary Privatization also attended the gathering. The Federal Minister for Privatisation and the Chairman Privatization Commission, Muhammadmian Soomro chaired the Session.

The Secretary Privatization Commission Mr. Rizwan Malik briefed the participants on the current privatization program of the Government. He stated that the government gives prime importance to the economic reforms agenda and the current privatisation program is a vital component of economic reforms. The privatization envisaged to bring investment in the country as well as modernize the privatized entities. The investors induct capital and install the state of the art technologies and implement best governance practices in the privatised entities. The privatization Commission, following the agenda of the government for privatization, has recently stepped up its efforts by advertising more entities for privatization. The privatization process , being carried out by the privatization Commission , is strictly in accordance with Privatization law and the Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority(PPRA) Rules to ensure transparency in the transactions. The sale proceeds are utilized for government’s debt reduction and poverty alleviation in Pakistan. It is expected that good amount of sale proceeds will be received as a result of transparent and fair privatization process.

The privatization Commission led by Mr. Muhammadmian Soomro is encouraging the local as well as the foreign investors to participate and compete for purchase of state-owned entities.

While addressing the audience, the Federal Minister and Chairman privatization Commission Mr. Muhammadmian Soomro said that the government is focusing on privatization under the directions of the Prime Minister and pursuant to the privatization law to substantially minimize losses to the public exchequer. He further emphasized that through privatization of state-owned entities, substantial financial burden on the government will be reduced.

Mr. Muhammadmian Soomro further informed that through privatization process we are providing level playing field to all the potential investors to complete for the purchase of entities and or purchase of shares of the entities on the capital market. This will also strengthen the capital market of Pakistan and above all it will attract both the local as well as foreign investors. Furthermore, he said that on the directions of Cabinet Committee on Privatisation(CCOP) chaired by the Advisor on Finance to the Prime Minister Mr. Hafeez Shaikh, the Privatisation Commission has initiated an ambitious privatization program of 17 public sector entities and sale of 32 real estate properties of state-owned entities.

Mr. Muhammadmian Soomro highlighted the fact that according to the statutory framework , the requisite extensive consultations with concerned Ministries and relevant stakeholders pre-requisite approvals are being taken from the Council of Common Interest( CCI), Board of Privatisation Commission and Cabinet Committee on Privatisation(CCOP). This extensive process ensures successful financial closure of privatisation transactions as envisaged under the law. He mentioned that some of the entities are already in the active privatisation program list including Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power plants, shares of Mari Petroleum, SME etc as approved by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation(CCOP) and more entities i.e. Pakistan Petroleum is), Heavy Eletric Complex(HEC), Sindh Engineering Board, OGDCL, Guddu and Nandipur Power plants, HBFC have also been added to the Program. Government has taken an important step for the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills and the procurement process for the appointment of Financial Advisor has been initiated.

Mr. Muhammadmian Soomro further emphasized that in accordance with the vision of the Prime Minister to eradicate corruption and to bring efficiency in the state-owned entities, transparency and fairness are given foremost importance in the privatisation in Privatisation He said that this event is part of the efforts to interact with the stakeholders and to ensure their maximum participation. He also highlighted that the Privatisation Commission is in the process to engage services of eminent professionals for efficiency enhancement. The rules and regulations are being revised in order to make them user friendly and reducing the time frame in privatisation processes pursuant to the legal framework .