DR. HAFEEZ DIRECTS TO ACCELERATE THE PROCESS OF PRIVATISATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR ENTITIES

Islamabad, October 04, 2004

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment directed that the process of privatisation of various public  sector entities including KESC, KAPCO, CTI, NRL, PCP and ICP be accelerated. He said this while chairing the Meeting of the Board of the Privatisation Commission. The Minister also directed that procedural hindering/bottlenecks  in the transactions should be cleared on war footings in order to pave way for a transparent and smooth privatisation of the units.

The PC Board decided to hold pre-bid meeting for KESC transaction on  October 7th and bidding by end of November. The exact date would be  finalized in consultation with the prospective bidders.

The Board approved the transaction structure for the sale of the National  Refinery Limited (NRL) and also approved the criteria for pre-qualification of bidders for the strategic sale of NRL. The recommendations of the Board  will now be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) for approval.

The PC Board also reviewed the Carrier Telephone Industries (CTI)  transaction and directed that the transaction should be brought to the point  of sale at the earliest. It may be recalled that the Government has earlier  decided to divest 53% of its share holding in the CTI.

The meeting also decided to set up a Committee to expedite the IPO of  KAPCO so that the public offering could take place by October / November. The PC Board also approved the inclusion of Printing Corporation of  Pakistan Press, Lahore in the privatisation programme.

A presentation was given to the Board on various options for  privatisation of Investment Corporation of Pakistan (ICP) as it stands after  transfer of management rights and recommended suitable structure for  approval of the CCOP.

The meeting was also attended by the Secretaries and other officers of the Ministries/Divisions etc. concerned.