ISLAMABAD: According to the Ministry of Finance, a delegation of the UAE based multinational company Etisalat called on Federal Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday November 10, 2022 at the Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
The delegation apprised the Finance Minister about the ongoing Etisalat operations in Pakistan and their future business plans.
Etisalat is a telecommunications company which currently owns 26% of PTCL’s shares in a deal finalized by the government in 2006.
Since then Etisalat has been holding back $800 million out of $2.6 billion bid proceeds of the majority stakes in PTCL. The company claims that the reason behind this is the delay from Pakistan in transferring the titles of all the properties owned by Etisalat.
A source had reportedly mentioned that PTCL’s asset management department claimed 3,384 properties of Etisalant, while originally 3,248 properties were finalized in 2006.
At that time Etisalat had made upfront payments of $1.4 billion in a couple of installments. The remaining $800 million were stopped on the premise of non-transfer of all properties in the name of PTCL.
Etisalat also claimed that the number of non-doable properties was not 33 but 363 based on the list provided by the asset management department of PTCL as part of the sale-purchase agreement.
In an attempt to resolve the conflict of correct transfer of properties, the government has included Ahad Cheema as Land Utilization Expert in the PTCL board. Through a tweet the Ministry of Finance informed that Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also held meetings with Mr. Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, CEO and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Holding Company (AHC) and Mr. Syed Basar, CEO and Managing Director of International Holding Company (IHC) today in Abu Dhabi
Both sides discussed investment opportunities available in Pakistan. ADQ and IHC expressed interest in investing in energy, agriculture, healthcare and other sectors.
