ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Thursday approved $8 million to pay severance packages of the Pakistan International Airlines-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Pakistani state media reported, amid the South Asian country’s push for privatization of state entities.
The development came at an ECC meeting presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, during which the Ministry of Aviation presented a summary to allow the utilization of $8 million available with National Bank of Pakistan to pay severance packages of the establishment.
Roosevelt Hotel, a 19-story building located at a prime location in New York, was inaugurated in Manhattan on September 22, 1924. Named after the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, Pakistan’s national airline leased it in 1979 through the Pakistan International Airlines Investments Limited (PIA-IL).
Saudi Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud was also one of the investors in the 1979 investment deal, though the PIA decided to buy the hotel for $36.5 million in 1999 and later struck a deal with its Saudi partner in 2005 to buy his share in the property as well.
“The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday approved $8 million to pay severance packages and operational expenses of the Roosevelt Hotel,” the state-run APP news agency reported.
In 2021, the government of then prime minister Imran Khan had allowed the release of $27.3 million for the payment of liabilities accumulated by the hotel, which permanently closed its door on October 31, 2020, after remaining operational since 1924.
A year earlier, it had also approved $142 million for the PIA-IL last year to meet the hotel’s financial challenges.
The $8 million severance grant comes amid Pakistan’s push for privatization and reforms in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as it negotiates with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a fresh bailout program, for which Islamabad must implement an ambitious reforms agenda, including the privatization of debt-ridden SOEs.
Among the main entities Pakistan is pushing to privatize is its national flag carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), while the government is putting on the block a stake ranging from 51 percent to 100 percent.
The South Asian country, which has been facing low foreign exchange reserves, currency devaluation and high inflation, last month completed a short-term $3 billion IMF program that helped stave off a sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program to keep the $350 billion economy afloat.
Pakistan approves $8 million to pay severance packages of PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York
https://arab.news/jrec6
Pakistan approves $8 million to pay severance packages of PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York
- Pakistan’s national airline bought the Roosevelt Hotel in 1999 for $36.5 million
- Islamabad is pushing for privatization of state entities for a fresh IMF bailout
Pakistan offers Kyrgyzstan Arabian Sea access as two states sign 15 cooperation accords
- Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan sign MOUs spanning trade, energy, agriculture, ports, education, security cooperation
- Kyrgyz president is on first visit to Pakistan in 20 years as both sides push connectivity and CASA-1000 power links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday offered Kyrgyzstan the shortest and most economical route to the Arabian Sea as the two countries signed 15 agreements and memoranda of understanding aimed at boosting cooperation across trade, energy, agriculture, education, customs data-sharing and port logistics.
The accords were signed during a visit to Islamabad by President Sadyr Zhaparov, the first by a Kyrgyz head of state to Pakistan in two decades, and part of Islamabad’s renewed push to link South Asia with landlocked Central Asian economies through ports, power corridors and transport routes.
For Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan offers access to hydropower through CASA-1000, a $1.2 billion regional electricity transmission project designed to carry surplus summer electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan. For Bishkek, Pakistan provides overland access to warm-water ports on the Arabian Sea, creating a shorter commercial route to global markets.
“President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to offer Kyrgyzstan the shortest and most economical route to the Arabian Sea,” Radio Pakistan reported after Zhaparov met the Pakistani president.
The two leaders also discussed expanding direct flights to deepen business, tourism and people-to-people ties.
Zardari welcomed Kyrgyzstan’s completion of its segment of the CASA-1000 project and “reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to completing its part of the project, which is now at an advanced stage,” the state broadcaster said.
Zhaparov thanked Islamabad for supporting Bishkek’s candidacy for a non-permanent UN Security Council seat and invited Zardari to visit Kyrgyzstan at a time of his convenience. Both sides expressed satisfaction with progress under the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement, designed to facilitate road movement between Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China.
Earlier, both governments exchanged 15 sectoral cooperation documents covering commerce, mining, geosciences, power, agriculture, youth programs, the exchange of convicted persons, customs electronic data systems and a sister-city linkage between Islamabad and Bishkek.
According to APP, the MOUs were signed by ministers representing foreign affairs, commerce, economy, energy, power, railways, interior, culture, health and tourism. Agreements also covered cooperation between Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy and the Diplomatic Academy of Kyrgyzstan, as well as collaboration between universities, youth ministries and cultural institutions.
“Our present mutual trade, comprising of about $15–16 million will be enhanced to $200 million in the next two years,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said after the agreements were signed, calling them “a framework for structured, result-oriented engagement and closer institutional linkages.”
Sharif said Pakistan was ready to serve as a maritime outlet for the landlocked Central Asian republic, offering access to Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar to help Kyrgyz goods reach regional and global markets.
