ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has constituted a committee to engage with government over privatisation issues.
The members of the committee included Sherry Rehman, Syed Naveed Qamar and Saleem Mandviwalla, said a notification issued by Chairman’s Secretariat. Ten companies have reportedly shown their interest in acquiring the majority stakes in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), it emerged last week.
Sources told that 10 companies including three domestic aviation companies have submitted their applications for tenders.
Fly Jinnah, AirSial, Arif Habib Group, Shujaat Azeem Group’s consortium, Tabba, Tariq Group and Sehgal groups have also shown interest in acquiring the majority of PIA shares, the sources said. The last date of PIA privatisation was May 3 (today) which has now been extended to 18 with aim of providing such companies with ample time to finalise their proposals.
The Federal Minister for Privatisation, Abdul Aleem Khan, in his statement asserted that there will be no further extension beyond this deadline for the submission of declarations of interest for national flag carrier. The Privatisation Commission and the PIA administration also conducted various roadshows but failed to achieve much success, sources said.
Earlier, The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) gave the green light to the Scheme of Arrangement (SoA) for the privatisation process of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).
This approval signals a pivotal step towards the PIACL’s restructuring process and approval from the SECP once finalized, this will formalise the transfer of non-core assets and liabilities to the newly-formed PIA Holding Company Limited, setting the stage for a debt-light PIACL. –Agencies
