ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP) has approved 24 entities for the Privatization Program 2024-29 and decided that the inclusion of other state-owned entities (SOEs) will be made upon completion of a review about their categorization as strategic or essential enterprises, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Pakistan, which has been facing low foreign exchange reserves, currency devaluation and high inflation, this month reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new $7 billion loan.
Under the last $3 billion bailout package from the IMF that was critical in averting a sovereign debt default last year, the lender had said SOEs whose losses were burning a hole in government finances needed stronger governance.
On Friday, officials presented the CCOP with the five-year, phased privatization program by the Ministry of Privatization, and the committee considered 84 SOEs fr privatization after deliberating on the policy guidelines.
“The CCOP recommended that priority should be accorded to reducing the federal footprint in commercial space and limiting it to the strategic and essential SOEs only,” the state-run APP news agency reported. “CCOP emphasized that even SOEs making profits would also be considered for privatization.”
Among the main entities Pakistan is pushing to privatize is its national flag carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The government is putting on the block a stake ranging from 51 percent to 100 percent.
The CCOP decided that the entities not categorized as “strategic” or “essential” would be placed before it for a decision regarding their inclusion in the privatization program, according to the report.
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar reaffirmed the government’s commitment to implementing the privatization program with “transparency, efficiency and whole-of-government approach,” stressing the importance of support and cooperation from all stakeholders.
Pakistan approves 24 loss-making state entities for privatization program
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Pakistan approves 24 loss-making state entities for privatization program
- Pakistan this month reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a new $7 billion loan
- Under the last deal, the lender had said loss-making Pakistani state entities needed stronger governance
Pakistani PM, son acquitted in long-running sugar mills corruption case
- Case involved allegations of the misuse of authority by Shehbaz Sharif when he was chief minister of Punjab provinces
- Anti-graft authority had charged Sharif with using public funds to built a sludge carrier that would benefit a family-owned mill
ISLAMABAD: An anti-corruption court on Thursday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz on charges of using public funds to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, built by the premier’s father in 1992 and part of the Sharif Group of Companies.
The case, filed by the National Accountability Bureau on Feb. 18, 2019, involved allegations Sharif had used public funds to build a sludge carrier in Chiniot district in Punjab province to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, owned by his sons. Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab province at the time. NAB had alleged the project inflicted a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer.
“An Anti-Corruption Court Lahore has acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Thursday. “The verdict was announced by Judge of Anti-Corruption Court Sardar Iqbal Dogar in Lahore.”
Sharif and son Hamza were indicted in the case in 2019. They had pleaded during hearings since that the sludge carrier was not constructed only to cater to the family’s mill but to benefit the area.
“The acquittal came after the NAB informed the court that it had found no evidence of financial corruption or misuse of authority by Shehbaz and stated and stated that the allegations of misuse of authority and corruption against the former prime minister were not substantiated under the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999,” Pakistan’s top news channel, Geo News, reported.
“The premier and former chief minister, in the 2018 reference, was accused of causing massive financial loss to the national kitty by awarding the contract to a construction firm without a competitive bidding process.”
In Nov. 2023, Sharif and 10 others were acquitted by an accountability court in the Lahore in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference.
Sharif, 73, is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spearheaded their Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s election campaign for the 2024 general election.
This is Sharif’s second term as prime minister. He first replaced cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan as prime minister after the latter’s ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.
Sharif is best known for his direct, “can-do” administrative style, which was on display when, as chief minister of Punjab province, he worked closely with China on Beijing-funded projects after 2013. He also planned and executed a number of ambitious infrastructure mega-projects, including Pakistan’s first modern mass transport system in his hometown, the eastern city of Lahore.
Pakistan’s renovated Gaddafi Stadium to open tomorrow with fireworks, music
- PCB has renovated cricket stadiums in Lahore and Karachi for the 2025 Champions Trophy this month
- Tournament will follow hybrid model after India refused to play in Pakistan, citing ‘security concerns’
KARACHI: Pakistan’s newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host a free opening ceremony on Feb. 7 featuring a fireworks display, light show and live performances ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Thursday.
The PCB has been renovating stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi for the tournament, which will take place later this month across the three venues alongside Dubai. This will be the first ICC tournament held in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup.
According to the PCB, Gaddafi Stadium has been transformed into a world-class facility, featuring over 34,000 seats, brand-new scoreboards on two corners and state-of-the-art floodlights to ensure exceptional visibility for players and spectators after sunset.
“Famous singers Ali Zafar, Arif Lohar and Aima Baig will perform at the opening ceremony,” the PCB said in a statement. “A magnificent display of drums, fireworks and a light show will take place. The public will have free entry to the opening ceremony.”
The statement highlighted that the state-of-the-art stadium had been completed in a record time of only 117 days.
The PCB noted that all barriers in front of the seating enclosures have been removed and comfortable chairs installed. Additionally, new hospitality boxes with world-class facilities have been created for both cricket fans and players.
“First of all, I thank the workers who made the impossible possible,” PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was quoted as saying. “Frontier Works Organization, NESPAK contractors and PCB teams turned the dream of stadium renovation into reality.”
Pakistani fans have long expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s stadiums, citing a lack of basic facilities and a subpar viewing experience for spectators. The PCB has also been renovating Karachi’s stadium.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be held from Feb. 19 to Mar. 9, with matches hosted across Pakistan and Dubai in a hybrid model. The tournament’s structure follows a compromise after India refused to play in Pakistan, citing “security concerns.”
Exercising its rights as the host nation, Pakistan designated Dubai as the neutral venue for India’s matches, ensuring the participation of all teams. The PCB has scheduled the Champions Trophy opening ceremony in Lahore on Feb. 16.
In Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi will each host three group-stage games. Lahore is also set to host the second semifinal. Dubai will host all three of India’s group matches and the first semifinal, should India qualify.
The tournament opener on Feb. 19 will feature Pakistan taking on New Zealand in Karachi, while India will face Bangladesh in Dubai on Feb. 20.
This will be the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy after an eight-year hiatus. The last tournament took place in England in 2017. The event will feature the top eight teams in world cricket competing for one of the sport’s most prestigious titles.
Pakistan rejects Trump’s Gaza displacement proposal as ‘deeply troubling and unjust’
- Donald Trump said this week Palestinians in Gaza should be resettled in Egypt, Jordan or other countries
- Pakistan condemns Israeli restrictions on aid, shelters and medical supplies to the war-ravaged territory
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday any proposal to displace the people of Gaza was “deeply troubling and unjust,” emphasizing that Palestinian land rightfully belongs to the Palestinian people.
The statement comes days after former US President Donald Trump suggested that Palestinians residing in Gaza should be resettled in Egypt, Jordan or other countries while addressing the media alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The proposal was rejected by both Egypt and Jordan, prompting condemnation from various international rights groups as well.
“The proposal to displace the people of Gaza is deeply troubling and unjust,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan told reporters during a weekly press briefing. “Palestinian land belongs to the Palestinian people.”
He said the only viable way to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict was through a two-state solution, as recommended in United Nations Security Council resolutions.
“Pakistan’s position on the issue of Palestine is very clear, as Pakistan has been and will continue to stand by the people of Palestine in their just struggle for self-determination, as well as for the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders,” he added.
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on internationally agreed parameters.
The spokesperson also condemned Israel’s restrictions on the flow of aid, shelters and necessary medical equipment to Gaza, saying it was in violation of the ceasefire deal.
“As per the agreement, 60,000 trailers and 200,000 tents were supposed to enter Gaza, and the deal also required Israel to allow equipment to help clear the way to reach Gaza,” he noted.
Khan said Pakistan called upon the international community to break its silence on the blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement by Israel and its “atrocities” against Palestinians.
“The international community must step up and ensure that the ceasefire agreement is honored in letter and spirit,” he added.
“We call for enhanced, unhindered humanitarian assistance to those in urgent need, opening up all access points of supply to Gaza, and for allowing all UN and international agencies, including UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency], to operate fully in Gaza,” he added.
Speaking about the situation in Syria since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime, Khan said Syria remained a significant country in the Islamic world, highlighting its cultural influence, people-to-people connections and historic ties through faith, language and history.
“We will support any initiative for a stable Syria and restoration of peace and stability after years of civil war,” he added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also welcomed Ahmed Al-Sharaa as Syria’s new president last week while expressing his desire for peace in the country. Sharaa, who led the campaign that ousted Bashar Assad, was declared president for a transitional phase and given authority to form a temporary legislative council, with the Syrian constitution suspended.
Militants attack police post in northwest Pakistan, killing three officers
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief says officers battled militants for two hours
- Overnight attack in Karak district continued until police reinforcements arrived
PESHAWAR: Almost a dozen well-armed militants mounted an overnight assault on a police check post in Pakistan’s restive Karak district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, triggering a gunbattle that left three policemen dead and six others wounded on Thursday, police said.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, since a fragile truce between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the state broke down in November 2022.
Most of these attacks have targeted police personnel and security forces, though civilians and other government functionaries have also been affected.
Pakistani officials have attributed the uptick in militant violence to cross-border attacks from Afghanistan, accusing the administration in Kabul of “facilitating” TTP fighters, though Afghan authorities deny the allegation.
“Militants started an attack on Bahadur Khel police check post of Karak with small and heavy weapons but police officers on duty offered stiff resistance,” Shaukat Khan, the district’s police spokesman, said. “During the exchange of fire, three police officials were martyred and six others wounded. But militants had to flee after police reinforcement arrived.”
Khan said the dead and wounded were shifted to the district headquarters hospital for treatment soon after the incident.
Speaking to the media after attending the funeral prayers of the slain police officers, provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said law enforcement personnel fought bravely with the militants for two long hours.
“The terrorists wanted to take over the police post but their attempt was thwarted. We will chase terrorists everywhere and will take strict action against those involved in this heinous assault,” he added.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP that has frequently targeted police and security personnel in the province.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the assault and directed the police chief to take all measures to identify the perpetrators.
He expressed his condolences over the death of the three police officers and prayed for the swift recovery of those wounded in the attack.
“The provincial government will not leave the bereaved families alone and will provide them with all support. Police have rendered immense sacrifices to protect the lives and property of people,” he added.
The TTP and other militants have stepped up attacks against security forces in the country’s two western provinces, alongside targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials, in recent months.
Last week, four soldiers of the paramilitary Levies force were killed after they were targeted by gunfire and an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Dera Ismail Khan district of the province.
Earlier this month, the military said 18 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in southwestern Balochistan province.
The military added that it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.
China, Pakistan urge Afghanistan to act against militants as Zardari seeks stronger economic ties
- Pakistan recognizes commitment to ensuring safety of Chinese workers, calls it ‘foremost responsibility’
- President Zardari meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang, seeks enhanced people-to-people exchanges
ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan on Thursday called on Afghanistan’s administration to take “visible and verifiable” steps to address militant threat, according to a joint statement, as President Asif Ali Zardari discussed enhanced economic collaboration and people-to-people ties during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Zardari is on a five-day visit to Beijing, where he also met Chinese President Xi Jinping a day earlier and invited him to visit Pakistan. His engagements with Chinese officials come amid Beijing’s growing concerns over the security of its nationals working in Pakistan, many of whom are involved in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and have been targeted in a series of attacks in recent years.
During his meeting with Xi, Zardari acknowledged that Pakistan’s relationship with China had “gone through ups and downs” but said it would not be undermined by militant violence.
Most of the attacks against the Chinese workers have been attributed to groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which Pakistan says operate from neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation.
“The two sides [Pakistan and China] agreed to maintain close communication and coordination on the issue of Afghanistan, and play a constructive role in helping Afghanistan achieve stable development and integrate into the international community,” said the joint statement released by Pakistan’s foreign office.
“They called on the Interim Afghan Government to take visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist groups based in Afghanistan which continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security, and to prevent the use of Afghan territory against other countries,” it added.
The statement also highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to ensuring the safety of Chinese workers, calling it the country’s “foremost responsibility.”
“The Pakistani side reiterated its strongest condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Pakistan involving Chinese personnel,” it said, adding that the government would continue to investigate these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“It will also further increase input into security, and take targeted and enhanced measures to effectively ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan,” the statement said.
Separately, the Pakistani president met with Chinese Premier Li at the Great Hall of the People, reaffirming Islamabad’s commitment to deepening its “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership” with Beijing.
“The President highlighted the pivotal role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in promoting regional connectivity and economic growth and expressed appreciation for China’s continued support toward Pakistan’s development agenda,” a statement from Pakistan’s presidency said.
Discussions between the two leaders focused on the expansion of cooperation under “CPEC 2.0,” with an emphasis on renewable energy, science and technology, infrastructure and agriculture.
They also explored ways to enhance trade and investment through business-to-business linkages.
Both sides underscored the importance of strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges to build a “China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future in the New Era,” the statement added.
