The Special Investment Facilitation Council’s Apex Council has issued a directive to the Ministry of Law and Justice, urging the prohibition of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from resorting to international arbitration against each other.
Citing well-informed sources, BR reported that the Apex Council emphasized the importance of preventing situations in which state-owned enterprises engage in international arbitration against one another and stressed that such disputes should be resolved domestically.
As a result, the Minister for Law and Justice was tasked with leading a committee to examine the issue and propose resolutions and recommendations for presentation at the next Apex Council meeting.
During a recent meeting, co-chaired by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq and Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, the matter of arbitration between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and National Power Parks Company Limited (NPPCL) in the London Court of International Arbitration was thoroughly discussed.
Furthermore, a committee, comprised of ministers responsible for Finance, Privatization, Law and Justice, and Information Technology (IT), has been established to negotiate with M/s Etisalat in order to address pending issues.
During the meeting, various milestones aimed at curbing the fiscal deficit were presented, and these are expected to be further discussed at the Working Group level, with inter-governmental negotiations possibly commencing.
The Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been directed to explore the feasibility of opening Letters of Credit (LCs) and provide an update on this matter at the next Apex Council meeting.
The Secretary of Finance, Governor SBP, and Chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) will present a timeline-based plan for the issuance of international and domestic Green Bonds and the debt swap for Wapda.
The SBP, Ministries of Finance, Commerce and Petroleum Division have been instructed to provide a progress report on the removal of impediments in various areas to reduce the impact of currency volatility on the economy. These areas include settling imports and exports in PKR according to the SBP manual, settlements in RMB, settlement through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), restoring the cash over counter facility, addressing banking clearance issues related to transit through Iran and Afghanistan, monitoring banking transactions, discouraging the hoarding of dollars, and operationalizing the barter trade mechanism.
foreign litigation is just a vehicle for high ups to travel abroad and waste public money.
Local companies indulging in international arbitration against each other is a crime involving unnecessary wastage of precious fex which is spent on international lawyers and icc fees beside locals making joy trips under the guise of official work. On the contrary local arbitration laws should be reviewed to circumvent any shortcomings