Privatisation has remained the cornerstone of the economic policy of successive governments in Pakistan since 1988. Pakistan’s privatization programme is flexible and keeps adjusting according to ground realities while keeping the overall direction intact. This has ensured continuity of policy with only minor adjustments in the programme. The success of the programme is reflected in the US $9 billion generated by the Government from 167 transactions. Privatisation has been helpful in liberating the government from micro-management of the economy. This in turn has freed substantial public funds which were being used as subsidies for loss making state enterprises.
The government has announced a privatisation policy based on Public Private Partnership (PPP), which envisages the transfer of management to investors through minority sales while ensuring transparency and all other aspects safeguarded through comprehensive documentation.
The Privatisation Commission is held an international conference on privatisation on July 3,2009 in Islamabad. The Federal Minister for Privatisation presided, whereas Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tareen will be the guest. This conference aims to help establish privatisation as key driver in public sector reform agenda. It will also aid delegates in exploring possible Public Private Partnerships between the public and private sectors for cooperating in the provision of public services and outputs of the privatized state enterprises. The Privatisation Commission hopes to stimulate discussion on the following aspects during the conference to innovate, further streamline the procedures and adopt international best practices tailored to the privatisation program of Pakistan:
- Discuss the variety of experiences on privatisation in a wide range of sectors and countries
- Assess the desirability of privatisation in different sectors and services
- Advise on appropriate methods of privatisation for different policy objectives
- Idenitfy most suitable modes: outright sale, lease, concession, management contract structures
- Advise on contractual arrangements between government and private sector
- Explain public-private partnerships (PPPs), how they can be organised and adapted to the Privatisation Commission to generate most optimum privatisation structures, produce value for money and avoid potential pitfalls
- Make a judgment on the best structures for privatisation
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The Conference comprises of one plenary session followed by 3 technical sessions which will focus on:
- Deliberations on new privatisation policy and the methodologies being used globally for privatisations/ divestments
- Discussion on methodologies to initiate privatizations for power and infrastructure sectors under the new policy
- Focusing on views of the investors and stakeholders regarding past privatisations with a view to enumerate lessons for the future.
Privatisation in the emerging economies