ISLAMABAD: Just days after publicly opposing the government’s plan for privatising loss-making public enterprises, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday set up a committee for talks with the Centre on the issue.

The committee comprises Sherry Reh­­­man, Syed Naveed Qamar and Saleem Mandviwalla, according to a statement issued by the party’s central secretariat.

The committee will “engage with the government over privatisation issues”.

While attending a Labour Day event last week, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said his party would take up the issue of privatisation with the federal government and convince them to opt for public-private partnerships to restore entities like PIA and Steel Mills.

Move comes days after Bilawal opposed plan to sell SOEs to private sector

The statement indicated differences between PML-N and PPP — allies in the federal government — over the issue of privatisation, which is one of the main provisions of the structural reform programme agreed with the IMF by the previous government.

Mr Mandviwalla, one of three committee members, told Dawn that there wasn’t much clarity on privatisation yet.

“We would engage with the government, seek details of their [privatisation] programme and definitely look into its pros and cons.”

“We believe that it’s not that simple to announce and execute privatisation of any institution,” the PPP leader told Dawn. As an alternative to privatisation, he suggested public-private partnerships, including outsourcing of entities’ operations.

Mr Mandviwalla said the idea of selling shares of a government entity and offering management control to private buyers “hasn’t worked”.

“So our primary objective is to engage with the government, learn the details of their plan, and exchange thoughts on the subject.”

Meanwhile, 10 companies have expressed interest in acquiring majority stakes in PIA, according to media reports. The companies, including three domestic airline companies, have submitted applications for tenders.

Fly Jinnah, AirSial, Arif Habib Group, Shujaat Azeem Group’s consortium, Tabba, Tariq Group and Sehgal groups have also shown interest in acquiring majority shares of PIA, sources told Dawn.

Imran Ayub in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024