ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro during a meeting on Sunday said that the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan is working on reforms to bring transparency, uniformity and consistency in transaction management.
The privatisation process is expected to contribute Rs100 billion to government’s non tax revenue receipts as per the Finance Bill 2020-21.
Soomro said that the Privatisation Commission is fully committed and endeavored towards timely achieving the target. He said that significant progress is underway on various entities in the active privatisation list.
The minister said that due diligence for various entities is in the final stage, while the procurement process for appointment of financial advisors is also at advance stages for certain entities.
Soomro further said that for efficient implementation of the privatisation program the commission is working on reforms including a computerised track record of the timelines through software to be kept for a closer monitoring of transaction processes.
Officials briefing the meeting said that standardisation and simplification of procurement of transaction advisory services and transaction documents will bring in uniformity, consistency, and transparency in the privatisation process and effective management of the transaction process.
As per the latest implementation plan prepared by the Privatisation Division, it is expected that transactions for privatising Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC) and both RLNG plants at Haveli Bahadar Shah and Balloki are likely to be completed in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.
Additionally, for the Nandipur Power Plant, financial advisors have been hired, who are expected to complete due diligence during the FY 2020-21.
Moreover, Services international Hotel (SIH), Jinnah Convention Center (JCC), SME Bank, First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) and House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFC) are scheduled for completion in the next fiscal year.
For SME Bank, qualified bidders have been notified to participate in the buyer side due diligence leading to the bidding process.
Another meeting was held between the Privatisation Commission Board (PCB) all relevant stakeholders including Ministry of Industries and Production to discuss the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
The Transaction Committee discussed the revised transaction structure for revival of Pakistan Steel Mills. Different options were considered for revival and the Financial Advisory Consortium was directed by the committee to further fine tune proposals.
Another session of the Transaction Committee has been scheduled on Tuesday to finalise the transaction structure.
The recommendations of the committee will be presented to the Privatisation Commission Board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation for necessary approvals.
