The company was created by the PTI government in an attempt to overhaul the management of public-sector companies.
KARACHI: According to press reports, “Prime Minister Imran Khan has withdrawn from the chairmanship of the board of directors of a new Rs500-billion company named Sarmaya-e-Pakistan Limited [SPL] following concerns expressed by the Law and Justice Division that he holds a public office, which can lead to conflict of interest.”
The company was created by the PTI government in an attempt to overhaul the management of public-sector companies. Since most of these companies have been incurring losses of billions of rupees over the years, the party planned on introducing a scheme based on the model in place in Malaysia and Singapore. The model included a managerial company that would provide tailored expertise and skills to run public-sector companies, as previously, uniform instructions were used for all such companies (an inefficient model as it overlooked the needs of specific industries). The enterprise also required complete federal government shareholding and existing government shares in public companies were to be transferred to the new company.
The final decision was to include secretaries of finance, industries and production and power on the board, along with professionals from the private sector. This would mean that the control of Rs500 billions of public assets will be with a board consisting mostly of private individuals.
I oppose creation of such a company. I had advocated following the role model of our own successful experience of managing state enterprises in the 1980s and early 1990s, rather than copying Malaysia and Singapore. But now that SPL has been created, only the president or the prime minister should chair a largely public sector board, rather than entrusting multiple private individuals by placing public assets under their control.
Arshad Zaman
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2019.
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