Committee tasked PIA privatization

By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday formed a committee to expedite the process of out-sourcing the country’s major airports and privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
According to the notification, the newly formed committee will act under the chairmanship of Federal Minister of Defense and Aviation Khawaja Asif Ahmad.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister of Privatization Aleem Khan are also part of the com-mittee.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretary Privatization and Secretary Aviation are also mem-bers of the committee while the Aviation Division will provide secretarial support to the Committee, the notification added.
The committee will review outsourcing of the management of major airports of the country and will also monitor matters related to privatization of PIA.
It is pertinent to mention here that the government has already initiated the process to delegate the operations and management of Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore airports – with the aim of generating foreign exchange to support the economy.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that the government is committed to completing the privatization process of PIA by June.