ISLAMABAD: Priv­a­tisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said that privatising government entities will eliminate the constant burden on the national exchequer.

While chairing a meeting of the Board of the Privatisation Com­mission on Tues­day, the minister said a different strategy would be adopted for divesting Pakistan International Airline (PIA) in light of the previous experience and process.

After the recent reforms, he added that attracting buyers for PIA has been made easier, which is expected to yield better results.

Mr Aleem stressed that privatising state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must be completed in accordance with laws and regulations, and nothing can go against the existing procedure at any cost.

He directed the acceleration of the work on the projects in line with transparency.

On the issue of the privatisation of power distribution companies, he said that issues related to the Ministry of Energy should be finalised within a week.

Moreover, the board should also take up pending matters with relevant ministries to complete them quickly.

Proceedings of the previous meeting were approved, and recommendations were made for various state-owned enterprises.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2024