PIA will definitely be privatised but in better way: minister

• Provinces "welcomed" to participate in privatisation, says minister.
• Abdul Aleem Khan says govt can't privatise PIA at low cost.
• Privatisation of nine Discos also in the pipeline, says minister.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Privatisation Abdul Aleem Khan said on Sunday the government would unquestionably privatise the Pakistan International Airline (PIA), but do it in a "better way".

Addressing a press conference, Aleem said the law obligated him to conduct the privatisation process, The News reported.

He said that the privatisation process of the national flag carrier had set in motion prior to his taking charge of the ministry’s office and he had no power to alter that framework, as it was already finalised.

The federal minister claimed that with improved regulations and appropriate funding, the PIA, a national asset, could still be turned into a profitable entity today. He said that the government was unable to privatise it at a low cost.

"The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Punjab, or any other province would be welcome to take part in the PIA privatisation process," he added.

He said that his only responsibility was to privatise the PIA, and the country was fully aware that all governments made indiscriminate contributions to get the PIA to this point. He said he had raised NHA's earnings by Rs50 billion as Minister for Communications which, he claimed, was a record by any state institution in Pakistan’s history.

Aleem stated that it was his national responsibility to strive for the welfare of this country in order to save the money of the poor people. Therefore, he said, he did not launch any publicity campaigns, run any advertisements, or write any articles for this achievement of worth Rs50 billion.

He said that others who had remained federal ministers for the same department were also finding faults and advising against the privatisation of the PIA. He claimed that in his capacity as a federal minister, he saved Rs2.8 billion by abolishing 3,500 positions at the Pakistan Post.

He claimed that as a 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 Privatisation 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 Privatisation Commission Board and CCOP,” Aleem added.

Regarding the PIA privatisation, he said: “I was in the meeting at the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh that day while on an official visit with the Saudi Arabian Minister of Privatisation. While before that I also attended the meeting of Privatisation Commission Board and CCOP." 

He said the government had more options regarding the PIA privatisation and the government could also remove the remaining Rs200 billion liabilities of the institution and give a “Clean PIA”.

Aleem 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 to another question, he said that currently apart from PIA, the privatisation of nine Discos was also in the pipeline. As far as investment was concerned, the number of MOUs with Saudi Arabia alone had reached 34 and investment of $2.8 billion had already been made on which work had already been started and investors were coming from Russia and China, he said.

The federal minister for communications said that as far as his departments were concerned, the annual revenue in the Communication Sector would reach Rs500 billion in the next five years which would be a historic step. Like other countries, NHA must go outside Pakistan and get tenders as international firm, he added.

In response to another question, Aleem said that strict policies had been introduced in NHA, there was no compromise on axle load, the safety of Motorways and National Highways was the first responsibility. 

He said that PIA must be privatised and they would try to do it better than before. More improvements could be made in this regard but speculations, comments and accusations should be avoided, he added.

Aleem pointed out that still PIA had potential, 24 crore people had 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 had 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 was not going to participate in PIA bidding.

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 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.