No objection to provinces’ bid to buy PIA: Aleem Khan

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan said on Sunday that the federal government has no objection to the provinces’ bid to buy Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

During a press conference, Khan discussed the development around the privatization of the national flag carrier.

According to Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, the previous caretaker government made the framework for the PIA privatization.

The federal minister maintained that PIA had a debt of Rs830 billion, out of which, around Rs600 billion had been parked in Holdco Company, while Rs200 billion had been parked in the PIA.

Khan said that the Privatization Ministry had no objection if Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Sindh wanted to buy ownership of Pakistan International Airlines.

“We have no objection if Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh governments together want to buy the PIA,” he added.

It is to be noted that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government expressed interest in participating in the privatisation bid for PIA.

According to details, the KP Investment Board wrote to Federal Minister for Privatisation Abdul Aleem Khan, expressing its intention to submit a bid.

The letter was written on directives of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and read that the PIA is a national asset of immense importance. “The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is willing to offer a better deal than the Blue World City,” the letter read.

The Privatisation Ministry announced on October 29 that only one bid of Rs10 billion for a 60% share in the national flag carrier had been received during the final bidding process for the PIA privatisation.

Now, Abdul Aleem Khan said that the PIA was a national asset and could not be sold at a throw-away price.

Meanwhile, he said that professional management was vital to run the PIA in an effective manner, while maintaining that proper management could transform the national flag carrier into a revenue-generating enterprise.