ISLAMABAD, May 19: The UAE-based Etisalat on Friday formally took over the management of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and appointed its own nominee as new president and chief executive officer (CEO).

The change in the management was approved by PTCL’s newly constituted board of directors which also approved Mohamed Abdulla Bamakhrama’s appointment as president and CEO and accepted the resignation of Junaid Iqbal Khan.

Presided over by Secretary Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication Farrakh Qayyum, the new board also approved dividends for its share holders and endorsed an ambitious plan to improve company’s services by introducing new concepts.

The board also approved nominations of Abdulrahim Al Nooryani, Chairman PTML (Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited) (Ufone) Board of Directors and Fadhil Erhama Al Ansari as Chairman of Paknet Board of Directors.

Salim Ali Al Akbary will be PTCL’s new Senior Executive Vice- President of Human Resources and Administration after the resignation of Shahzad Sadan.

Etisalat International Pakistan had won 26 per cent share of PTCL by offering $2.6 billion during the privatisation of the telephone utility giant.

The board also deliberated over the business of financial position of the company and after considering different factors affecting the business of the company declared an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share.