*KARACHI: *Privatisation Minister and Privatization Commission ChairmanMuhammadmian Soomro said on Friday the commission had initiated a programmefor the privatisation of 17 public sector entities and sale of 32 realestate properties of state-owned entities (SOEs).
He said this while chairing a programme hosted by the PrivatisationCommission for the stakeholders to discuss the prospects for theprivatization of SOEs at a hotel on Friday.
He said the process for privatization of 17 SOEs was being started in linewith the directions of Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) chaired byAdvisor to Prime Minister on Finance Hafeez Shaikh.
Soomro said the government was focusing on privatisation under thedirections of the prime minister and pursuant to the privatisation law tosubstantially minimize losses to the public exchequer.
“Through privatisation, we are providing a level playing field to all thepotential investors to compete for the purchase of entities or purchaseshares of the entities in the capital market,” he maintained. “This willalso strengthen the capital market of Pakistan and above all it willattract both the local as well as foreign investors.”
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He said the government had taken an important step for the revival ofPakistan Steel Mills while the process for the appointment of the financialadviser had been initiated.
Soomro further emphasized that transparency and fairness were being givenimportance in the privatisation process in accordance with the vision ofthe prime minister to eradicate corruption and to bring efficiency in thestate-owned entities.
He said this event was part of the efforts to interact with thestakeholders and to ensure their maximum participation.
