ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin Friday underlined the need for accelerating the pace of privatization for bringing efficiency and competitiveness in operations of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
Presiding over the meeting of the sub-committee of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on SOEs and Privatization, the minister emphasized to empower and strengthen the Board of Directors of the respective SOEs so that they could take firm decisions to improve management of these entities.
This proactive approach would ensure that unnecessary delays in privatization due to multiple stakeholders are prevented, he said according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry.
The minister said that the government was fully cognizant of its responsibilities and would adopt a consultative and collaborative approach to complete the whole privatization exercise with due diligence and fairness.
Earlier, the Sub-committee reviewed the portfolio SOEs for privatization on basis of strategic importance, performance, efficiency and profitability to suggest a way forward.
The members deliberated over the Triage Policy of the government and discussed the cross-cutting issues related to financial and human resource management in this regard.
Sultan Ali Allana, Private member said that privatization was a complex subject matter which poses significant challenges.
Federal Minister for Privatization, Muhammad Mian Soomro and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, Dr. Ishrat Hussain updated the Sub-Committee about progress made with reference to Privatization of SOEs to date.
They also apprised the finance minister about various legal and administrative challenges in the way of Privatization process related to different entities.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Privatization, Muhammad Mian Soomro; Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Secretary Privatization as well as private members Arif Habib and Sultan Ali Allana.
