Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mr. Shaukat Tarin, presided over the meeting of the sub-committee of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Privatization, held at the Finance Division today. 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 Mr. Arif Habib and Mr. Sultan Ali Allana participated in the meeting. The Sub-committee reviewed the portfolio of State-Owned enterprises (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. Mr. Sultan Ali Allana, Private member stated that Privatization is a complex subject matter which poses significant challenges. Federal Minister for Privatization and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity 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. In his remarks, the Finance Minister underlined the need to accelerate the pace of Privatization for bringing efficiency and competitiveness in operations of SOEs. He emphasized to empower and strengthen the Board of Directors of the respective SOEs so that they can 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. In his concluding remarks, the Finance Minister stated that the Government is fully cognizant of its responsibilities and will adopt a consultative and collaborative approach to complete the whole Privatization exercise with due diligence and fairness.
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