PRIVATISATION ACCORDING TO MARKET DEMAND- Says SENATOR WAQAR AHMED KHAN
 

Islamabad, February 16, 2010

 
We will conduct privatisation of Public Sectors Entities according to the market demand in a fair, open and transparent manner providing level playing to the domestic and foreign investors. The Federal Minister for Privatisation Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan stated during separate meetings with the Netherlands envoy to Pakistan Mr. Joost Reintjes and the Ambassador of Belgium Mr. Kint Hans- Chiristian here today.

The Minister urged upon both the envoys that Pakistan needed access to the market leaders of their respective countries to extend the investment opportunities in the brown field projects for having their technical, management, operational and socio economic expertise to make State Owned Entities efficient, productive and to enable them for performing up to their capacity.

Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan said that after successful operations in the troubled areas, the law and order situation has improved and the World’s major investment banks were keen to participate in the value addition activity being undertaken for SOEs to assess the true potential of our assets and to offer them to the potential investors.

We were in the process of restructuring PIA, OGDCL, PPL, SNGPL, SSGC, Postal Services, FESCO, HESCO, and PESCO while this exercise in PIA with changes of management and Board, which was expected to complete by March 31, 2010 and Advisors would be on board by June 2010 to take ahead these transactions, he added.

The Netherlands envoy to Pakistan Mr. Joost Reintjes said that Pakistan was a large growing market and Netherlands major market players i.e. Shell, Uniliver and Phillips were substantially and successfully operating in Pakistan. Netherlands attached great importance to Pakistan’s economic development and efforts would be made to provide opportunities to Pakistan to reach out the top leaders of Dutch companies for making fresh investments.

The Ambassador of Belgium Mr. Kint Hans- Chiristian expressed his full support for interaction with the Belgian companies and extended invitation to the Minister to visit Belgium for meeting with the major business groups and to participate in the Business Forum being held in Brussels in October 2010.