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Wednesday October 30, 2024

Cabinet panel says insurance firms not strategic bodies

Commerce ministry was directed to explore public private partnership model for Pak Expo company

By Mehtab Haider
July 23, 2024
A representational image showing a State Life insurance companys building in Vehari, Punjab. — Facebook/State Life Zonal Office Vehari/File
A representational image showing a State Life insurance company's building in Vehari, Punjab. — Facebook/State Life Zonal Office Vehari/File

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) has refused to entertain insurance outfits as strategic organisations, and decided that National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), State Life Insurance Company Limited (SLICL) and Pakistan Re-Insurance Company Limited (PRCL) did not meet the criteria of being strategic organisations.

Federal Minister for Finance & Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb presided over a meeting of the CCoSOEs at the Finance Division on Monday. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Planning Commission deputy chairman, SBP governor, SECP chairman, federal secretaries and other senior officers of the relevant ministries.

The committee considered the summaries presented by different ministries/divisions for categorisation of their relevant state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as strategic/ essential or otherwise.

The cabinet committee, after detailed discussions, decided that the NICL, SLICL and PRCL did not meet the criteria of strategic or essential SOEs and would not be categorised as essential for the public sector. The commerce ministry was directed to explore public private partnership model for the Pak Expo company.

The committee considered the summary presented by the Ministry of Science & Technology and approved renaming and restructuring the Ministry of Science and Technology, Technology Commercialisation Corporation of Pakistan (STEDEC) into Indigenous Research and Development Agency (Pvt) Limited (IRADA). It was further directed to constitute its board and operationalise the entity by December 2024. The CCoSOEs approved the proposals of Aviation Division and Ministry of Communications for appointment of candidates as independent directors on the Boards of PIA Holding Company Board, Pakistan Postal Services Management Board (PPSMB) and Postal Life Insurance Company Limited (PLICL). The committee directed the Communications ministry to present proposals for categorisation of the entities at the earliest.