CCOP agrees on stepping up sale of PIA properties, SME Bank

Task force to be formed to examine early disposal of PIA assets

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) on Friday gave directives for stepping up the pace of work on privatisation of SME Bank Limited and PIA Investment Limited.

The CCOP, headed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, however, did not agree to the proposal of delisting 17 Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority's (Erra) properties out of the 32 being processed for sale by the Privatisation Commission.

The committee approved the transaction structure, submitted by the Privatisation Commission, for the sale of SME Bank.

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Earlier, the CCOP was told that the transaction structure had been reviewed and recommended by a transaction committee which comprised Privatisation Commission board members, representatives of the Finance Division, State Bank of Pakistan and SME Bank.

They met four times before coming up with a comprehensive transaction structure, which was put before the CCOP for consideration and approval.

The Privatisation Commission also shared with the CCOP the pre-qualification criteria reviewed and approved by its board for prospective bidders.

For the privatisation of PIA Investment Limited, the CCOP approved a proposal for the constitution of a task force which would examine and process all necessary formalities for early disposal of PIA properties, including the Roosevelt Hotel in New York and Hotel Scribe in Paris.

The task force will be headed by Privatisation Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro and include Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, privatisation secretary and additional finance secretary as well as legal and financial consultants for Roosevelt Hotel and any other official deemed necessary to be co-opted.

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The CCOP told the PIA management to present in next meeting of the cabinet committee the findings of a feasibility study conducted by it. The study had been undertaken in response to a CCOP decision earlier this year, which called for carrying out an appraisal of various management and financial options for achieving optimal return on Roosevelt Hotel.

The CCOP also directed the PIA management to update the committee every month on the progress made and told the airline management to carry out its plan in coordination with the Aviation Division.

The CCOP took up a proposal of Erra, which sought the delisting of its 17 properties from the privatisation list until June 2020. The proposal came as in the middle of next year, Erra would be merged into the National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) according to a government decision to transform the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) into a vibrant and self-sufficient entity.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2019.

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