Pakistan Steel Mills among 6 public sector entities to be sold off this year: Soomro – Pakistan

The government is initiating a program to privatize a series of public institutions to make them profitable, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information, Firdous Ashiq Awan, told the media on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, flanked by the Minister of Privatization Mohammad Mian Soomro and the Secretary of the Privatization Commission Rizwan Malik, Awan said the laws and court orders of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) will be taken into account in the privatization process, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision 2018.

In addition to Awan's comments, Soomro said: "A strategic cell (for privatization) has been created in the country after a period of 10 years. The privatization commission is based on the prime minister's vision for 2018."

He said the government expected to obtain non-tax revenues of Rs 150,000 million from the privatization of six public sector entities (PSE) with losses before June 30. They include Sind Engineering, SME Bank, Guddu Power Plant, Pakistan Steel Mills, First Women Bank Limited and Jinnah Convention Center.

Soomro said world-renowned companies, including those in Japan, Thailand, Korea and Malaysia, were participating in the privatization process, which showed the restoration of their confidence in government investment policies in the country.

According to the minister, the government also intended to sell around 27 public real estate properties that will be put up for auction within two months.

"There are five federal government properties in Lahore that will be used to make cheap housing available to the public," Soomro said at the press conference.

He said the government had initially decided to privatize those state entities that suffered losses. In the second phase, the government will focus on entities that have the ability to earn but do not generate income due to some reasons. They will be restructured through a public-private partnership, Soomro added.

Both the privatization minister and the secretary said that Pakistan Steel Mills is becoming a profitable institution once again and that the process for its privatization will be completed by the end of the year. "A legal advisor for Pakistan Steel Mills has been appointed," Malik said.

The privatization secretary said foreign companies are showing a growing interest in current government policies.

"The privatization process seems slow, but we are working as quickly as possible to make this happen and at least six institutions will be privatized this year," Malik said, adding that 10 more PSEs will be put up for sale in the next phase.

"The underutilized state land auction process is also underway and the money obtained from these auctions will be used to pay off the national debt," the secretary told the media while adding that public lands will be used for the benefit of the public.

In informing the media, Malik said that some institutions that will be privatized are not at a loss, "but their profitability is not up to market standards."