PIA to be privatised in a better way: Aleem

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Privatization, Board of Investment & Communications Abdul Aleem Khan has said that he is bound by law to carry forward the process of privatisation.

He said, “We will definitely privatise PIA and do it in a ‘better way’.” Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Abdul Aleem Khan said that the process of PIA privatisation had already started before his taking charge of the ministry and he had no authority to change that framework, which had already been finalised.

He said that the PIA is a national asset and could be made profitable even today with better policies and proper investment. Aleem further said that the government could not privatise it at throwaway price. “If the KP government, Punjab or any other province intends to participate in the PIA privatisation process, they would be welcomed.”

Aleem said that his job is to privatise PIA and nothing else but the nation knows very well that every government contributed indiscriminately to bring PIA to this stage. He said that as far as his ministries are concerned, he has increased the revenue of Rs50 billion in NHA as Minister for Communications which is a record by any government institution and for the first time in the history of Pakistan, it is going to happen.

The federal minister claimed that for this achievement of worth Rs50 billion, he did neither run any publicity campaign, gave advertisements nor did write articles as it was his national duty to work for the betterment of this beloved motherland to save the money of the poor people.

Aleem said that with regard to PIA privatisation, in media such people are also criticising and giving advice who themselves remained federal minister for the same department. He said that he as a federal minister abolished 3,500 posts in Pakistan Post which saved Rs2.8 billion.

He clarified that as federal minister, he did not receive a single rupee from the government till date in the form of salary, TA/DA or any other benefit including official vehicle and staff. Moreover, on visits to Kuwait, Russia, China and other countries, he bore all expense from his own pocket.

“As far as the PIA privatisation is concerned, I was on an official visit with the Minister of Privatization of Saudi Arabia on that day and was in the meeting at the Embassy of Pakistan in Riyadh. While before that I also attended the meeting of Privatization Commission Board and CCOP,” Abdul Aleem Khan added.

He said, “We have more options regarding the PIA privatisation and the government can also remove the remaining Rs200 billion liabilities of this institution and give a “Clean PIA”. Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said that PIA’s privatisation process was transparent and everything happened in front of media cameras and was shown live.

“Instead of referring to the past or going into blame game, we have to move forward and do better for this country,” he said. Replying another question, Aleem said that currently apart from PIA, the privatisation of 9 Discos is in the pipeline. As far as investment is concerned, the number of MOUs with Saudi Arabia alone has reached 34 and investment of $2.8 billion has already been made on which work has already been started and investors are coming from Russia and China.

He said that as far his departments are concerned, the annual revenue in the Communication Sector will reach Rs500 billion in the next 5 years which would be a historic step. Like other countries, NHA must go outside Pakistan and get tenders as international firm.

In response to another question, Abdul Aleem Khan said that strict policies have been introduced in NHA, there is no compromise on axle load, the safety of Motorways and National Highways is the first responsibility. He said that PIA must be privatised and they will try to do it better than before. More improvements can be made in this regard but speculations, comments and accusations should be avoided, he added.

Abdul Aleem Khan pointed out that still PIA has potential, 24 crore people have only one Airline from which they can go to Europe and America through direct flights and the institution can be improved.

According to a Geo News report, the Punjab government has decided to launch an airline with the name of Punjab Air. According to sources, the provincial government has started work on the feasibility of Punjab Airlines. Sources say that Punjab Airline would be established in collaboration with private investors with Punjab government’s shares.

Meanwhile, Punjab Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb denied the news of acquiring PIA and said that Punjab government is not going to participate in PIA bidding as false news is being spread.

According to sources, the provincial government has started work on the feasibility of Punjab Airlines. Sources said that Punjab Airline will be brought in collaboration with private investors and Punjab government will also have shares in the airlines.

Meanwhile, Reacting to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments’ interest in acquiring Pakistan International Airline (PIA), former finance minister Miftah Ismail said there were no state-run airlines anywhere around the globe.

“No government in the world operates airlines,” Miftah said as he came down hard on provincial governments’ proposals to buy the national carrier while speaking at Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’.

Miftah said that he didn’t know any province had an airline. “A province’s responsibility is to provide education, health and convenience to the people,” he said regretting that the provinces “do not collect a penny of tax but seek financial assistance from the Centre”.

Responding to a question regarding the PIA privatisation fiasco, the former finance minister claimed that it came with “such pre-requisitions” which discouraged buyers. He further noted that four “interested” groups wanted to participate in the bidding process of the national carrier.