RAWALPINDI: The government has decided to extend by two months the deadline for submission of bids for the outsourcing of management and operations of the country’s three major airports following the requests of foreign investors and recommendations of the Internat­ional Finance Corporation (IFC).

The decision was taken at a meeting of the steering committee on outsourcing of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports held under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday.

The meeting was attended by the ministers for planning, development and special initiatives and law, justice and human rights (online), secretaries of the ministries of aviation and law, senior officials and the IFC country director.

The IFC official recapitulated the progress made on the project of airports’ outsourcing and informed the committee that multiple efforts of continuous engagement with prospective investors have yielded positive results and with the new political government in office, the confidence of investors to invest in Pakistan has augmented.

Bidders from Qatar, the Netherlands, Germany, Turkiye, the UAE and Malaysia and local consortia sought extension

With this intent, international bidders from Qatar, the UAE, Germany, Turkiye, the Netherlands and Malaysia and local consortia have requested for an extension in the bid submission timelines to complete their due diligence, the meeting was told.

The foreign minister assured the meeting of his ministry’s fullest support in engaging the investors through economic diplomacy and expeditious process for achieving successful outcome of the project.

Considering the requests made by the interested bidders and recommendations by the IFC, the committee decided to extend the bid submission date for 60 days till May 15.

The government had decided to outsource the managements of Jinnah International Airport, Allama Iqbal International Airport and Islamabad International Airport to international operators to attract foreign investment.

Resumption of PIA flights to Europe

The foreign minister was also briefed on the progress made so far for resumption of PIA’s flights to Europe and UK.

Mr Dar assured the meeting of support of the Foreign Office in line with a newly adopted strategy of economic diplomacy and in the larger public interest, including Pakistani diaspora in the UK and European Union.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2024