Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ATR aircraft arrives at the Islamabad International Airport in Islamabad on October 31, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 31 October 2024
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Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
  • Sole bidder Blue World City refuses to match government’s minimum price for Pakistan International Airlines
  • Pakistan plans to sell over 51 percent of its stake in loss-making PIA as envisaged under an IMF deal this year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national flag carrier received a Rs10 billion [$36 million] bid from real estate development company Blue World City on Thursday for sixty percent of its stakes during a televised auction, much below the minimum price for the airline set by the government.
Pakistan plans to sell more than 51 percent of its stake in the loss-making Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as part of economic reforms Islamabad agreed to with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a critical 37-month $7 billion bailout deal approved in September.
Pakistan’s government had pre-qualified six groups in June, but only real estate development company Blue World City met a Tuesday deadline to submit final documents to participate in the auction.
The state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) broadcast the bidding process live, with Blue World City as the sole bidder. The bid for $36 million was read out in front of government officials and financial advisers. The government had set a minimum price of Rs85 billion [$305 million] for the airline.
“We have considered your match price option,” Blue World City Chairman Saad Nazir said during the event. “We have decided to stand with the price we have already submitted.”
 Nazir refused to match the government’s offer of Rs85 billion, saying that as per the company’s assessment, “this was the best decision.”
“If the government doesn’t privatize [PIA], we wish the government all the best,” he said.
 Pakistan’s privatization commission has allowed some time for potential bidders to see if any would outmatch Blue World City’s bid.
“The government couldn’t get the fair price of the PIA through the auction due to the single bidder,” Haroon Sharif, a former member of the cabinet committee on privatization, told Arab News.
“There was no competition to purchase stakes of the national carrier.”
The government’s initial plan was to finalize the deal to sell PIA on the country’s Independence Day, Aug. 14, but the plan was delayed following requests from bidders waiting for the airline’s latest audited accounts, aircraft lease agreements and clarity on flights to Europe, which are currently banned.
This auction was delayed to September and October but those also did not materialize.
Sharif said the government should have extended the auction’s deadline to involve more bidders in the process.
“Now it looks like the government is privatizing the PIA in desperation,” he noted.
Official data available with Arab News shows there are 88 commercially operated state-owned enterprises in Pakistan, with collective losses of up to Rs730.258 billion ($2.61 billion) in the fiscal year 2022 (FY22).
In its five-year privatization plan ending in 2029, the government has approved 24 state-owned enterprises for sale, including the PIA.
With a fleet of 34 aircraft comprising 17 Airbus A320s, 12 Boeing B777s and 5 ATRs, the PIA loses traffic to Middle Eastern carriers who have a market share of 60 percent, because of an absence of direct flights to destinations.
The carrier has air service pacts with 87 countries, and landing slots at key destinations such as London Heathrow.
The reorganization plan of the business will separate the aviation-related aspects from non-core components, so freeing the operating subsidiary of a large portion of legacy debt.


Pakistan, Tajikistan sign two MoUs at meeting of joint commission in Islamabad 

Pakistan, Tajikistan sign two MoUs at meeting of joint commission in Islamabad 
Updated 45 sec ago
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Pakistan, Tajikistan sign two MoUs at meeting of joint commission in Islamabad 

Pakistan, Tajikistan sign two MoUs at meeting of joint commission in Islamabad 
  • Pakistan wants to consolidate its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub for landlocked Central Asian republics 
  • Tajikistan is Pakistan’s closest neighbor in Central Asia with narrow strip through Wakhan corridor separating them

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Tajikistan signed two memorandums of agreement at the seventh session of the Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission held in Islamabad this week, Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday. 

Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari on Wednesday announced that Islamabad and Dushanbe had agreed to set up a joint coordination committee to address transit trade challenges, as Pakistan pushes to consolidate its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with the rest of the world. 

In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between officials from Pakistan and the Central Asian nations. Tajikistan is Pakistan’s closest neighbor in Central Asia with a narrow strip of 14km through the Wakhan corridor separating the two countries. 

“Pakistan and Tajikistan signed two Memorandums of Understanding at the concluding meeting of the seventh Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission in Islamabad,” Radio Pakistan said. 

The first MoU forges a “historic partnership” between Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Tajikistan’s Khatlon province, paving the way for enhanced cooperation and mutual development. A second MoU has been signed between the Pakistani and Tajik football federations.

A business-to-business (B2B) forum between the two countries will also be held in Islamabad on Dec. 13.

On Wednesday, speaking at the Joint Commission in Islamabad along with Tajikistan Energy Minister Juma Daler Shofaqir, Leghari said both nations needed to explore “new avenues of cooperation” in commercial and economic fields.

“I’m pleased to note that both sides have agreed to create a joint coordination committee on transit trade under the Tajikistan-Pakistan trade transit agreement, which will play a pivotal role in addressing operational challenges and ensuring the smooth implementation of transit trade provisions,” Leghari said. 

He hoped deliberations of the joint commission would aid in preparing “concrete” recommendations to advance further growth in the fields of trade, energy, agriculture and education as well as the industrial sector.

Leghari also called for a “plan of action” to raise the current volume of trade through more trade activities and the removal of barriers. 

According to data published by Tajik Customs, during 2023 (Jan-Dec), the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan stood at $52.73 million, an increase of 62.3 percent in comparison with the previous year.

“I want to emphasize the significance of extending our regional connectivity and welcome Tajikistan to avail all trade corridors from Dushanbe to Gwadar and Karachi under the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation program and other multi-model transnational trade corridors,” Leghari added.

He said proximity between Pakistan and Tajikistan through the Wakhan corridor presented an “excellent opportunity” to establish direct connectivity.

Leghari also spoke about the significance of the $1.2 billion Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) project, that aims to bring 1,300 megawatts of surplus electricity from Central Asia to high-demand electricity markets in South Asia. This project involves the construction of a 1,227km-long cross-border transmission line that will connect Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan 

“I sincerely hope that the remaining work can be expedited to fully realize the potential of this vital energy cooperation ensuring mutual benefits in the power sector,” the Pakistani minister said.
 


UAE envoy briefs deputy PM on steps to streamline visas for Pakistanis — foreign office

UAE envoy briefs deputy PM on steps to streamline visas for Pakistanis — foreign office
Updated 19 min 50 sec ago
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UAE envoy briefs deputy PM on steps to streamline visas for Pakistanis — foreign office

UAE envoy briefs deputy PM on steps to streamline visas for Pakistanis — foreign office
  • Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, ambassador of UAE to Pakistan, calls on Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar
  • Meeting between officials comes after months of widespread media reports of a decline in visas for Pakistanis by UAE

ISLAMABAD: Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, the ambassador of the UAE to Pakistan, called on Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday and briefed him on steps being taken to streamline visas for Pakistanis, the foreign office said. 

The meeting comes after months of widespread media reporting on a decline in visas for Pakistanis by the UAE and a decrease in overall overseas employment for nationals of Pakistan, allegedly due to their lack of respect for local laws and customs and for participating in political activities and sloganeering while abroad.

On Wednesday, the issue came up in a meeting in Islamabad between Dar and Al-Zaabi.

“The ambassador briefed the DPM on the steps being taken to streamline the visa processes including augmenting human resource. These steps will cut the delays and expedite the visa processing,” the foreign office said in a statement after the meeting.

Last month, in response to questions about reports that the UAE had implemented a visa ban for Pakistanis, the spokesperson for the foreign office said:

“I would like to reiterate that according visa to any individual is the sovereign right and decision of the country concerned and secondly, we do not subscribe to this impression that there is a ban on visa for Pakistani nationals.

“If there are any issues that arise with respect to issuance of visas and stay of Pakistani nationals in the UAE, that are important agenda items between Pakistan and the UAE and we continue to discuss them.”


Wounds reopen as sectarian clashes flare in Pakistan’s Kurram border region

Wounds reopen as sectarian clashes flare in Pakistan’s Kurram border region
Updated 55 min 19 sec ago
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Wounds reopen as sectarian clashes flare in Pakistan’s Kurram border region

Wounds reopen as sectarian clashes flare in Pakistan’s Kurram border region
  • Thousands stranded without food and medicine in parts of remote Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan
  • Government struggling to end sectarian clashes stemming from decades-old tensions over farmland

PARACHINAR, Pakistan: Once again, Ali Ghulam receives mourners at his home — his brother and nephew killed 40 years apart in the same sectarian conflict that was reignited this year in northwest Pakistan, claiming 200 lives since July alone.

Thousands of residents are stranded without food and medicine in parts of remote Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, as the government struggles to end clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims stemming from decades-old tensions over farmland.

“Our generations yearn for peace,” 72-year-old Ghulam told AFP at his home in Parachinar, the main town and a Shiite bastion of the restive district.

The latest flare-up of violence has “reopened wounds” he said, recalling how his brother was killed in an attack in 1987 that also wounded another three of his brothers.

Kurram, known as the “Parrot’s Beak” for its protrusion into neighboring Afghanistan, is bounded by dizzyingly high mountains, the northern flank of which includes the Tora Bora caves where Al Qaeda founder and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden once hid.

Pakistan’s northwestern border districts have long been a haven for various militant groups, with militants and weapons able to flow largely unchecked in and out of Afghanistan.

“I have never experienced peace in my life and have no hope my coming generations will live free of fear,” Ghulam said.

Tribal and family feuds are common in Pakistan.

But they can be particularly protracted and violent in the mountainous tribal northwest, where communities live by traditional codes of honor and revenge.

The latest round of violence in Kurram erupted in May and intensified in July when gunmen opened fire on a council of elders attempting to settle the latest round of disagreements over land.

Various truces announced since then have held for only weeks or days at a time.

More than 300 shops and over 200 homes in Sunni areas have been destroyed, often by fire, and hundreds of families have fled.

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country with Shiites making up 10 to 15 percent of the population, or at least 25 million people.

Members of the two sects have periodically clashed in Kurram, where Shiites are particularly vulnerable as they must pass through Sunni-majority neighborhoods to access essential services.

Kurram’s location on the frontier of Pakistan and Afghanistan put it at the heart of the religious and political upheavals of the last five decades.

In 1979, Shiites led a revolution in Iran and later that year the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, prompting Sunni hard-liners there to rise up against them.

“It became a hub for arms supply to Afghanistan, including land mines, mortar shells, and weapons of all kinds. Every household in Kurram had a stockpile of weapons,” Malik Attaullah Khan, a local tribal elder told AFP.

Khan, who signed a 2007 agreement aimed at bringing peace to Kurram, criticized the government for failing to “fulfil in its responsibilities” in enforcing land settlements.

The ethnic Pashtun heartland was merged into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2018, but the Pakistani state maintains limited control in the merged districts.

In rural areas of Pakistan, villages often bypass the formal justice system and men-only “jirgas” or councils made up of respected village elders resolve disputes, sometimes in the form of fines or land reallocation.

Ghulam’s nephew was killed along with at least 42 others last month, when Sunni gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Shiites being escorted by the police to their homes.

In retaliation, a market in a Sunni-dominated area was set on fire.

Syed Ghani Shah told AFP his cousin was burned to death inside his shop.

“When we buried him, he was so unrecognizable that we couldn’t even let his parents see his face,” Shah said.

“Can we ever make peace after all this? Never, if we ever get the chance, we will surely avenge our blood,” he warned.

Authorities have enforced curfews and road closures to reduce the chances of violence breaking out, providing escorts through high-risk areas and using helicopters to deliver supplies.

But Akbar Khan, a representative of Pakistan’s independent Human Rights Commission told AFP that the state needs to do more to resolve the issue.

“In the past, jirgas were successful because they had the full support of the state. Now, the authorities don’t even provide the expenses needed to hold a jirga,” he said.

Fatima Ahmed’s husband was killed last month while traveling to Islamabad to arrange her admission to medical college.

“I don’t want to live a life without him. I’ve lost my will to exist,” the 21-year-old told AFP.

“They haven’t just martyred my husband — they’ve also murdered my dreams with him,” she said, bursting into tears.


Pakistan PM congratulates Saudi Arabia on winning 2034 bid to host FIFA World Cup

Pakistan PM congratulates Saudi Arabia on winning 2034 bid to host FIFA World Cup
Updated 12 December 2024
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Pakistan PM congratulates Saudi Arabia on winning 2034 bid to host FIFA World Cup

Pakistan PM congratulates Saudi Arabia on winning 2034 bid to host FIFA World Cup
  • Saudi Arabia was named FIFA 2034 host in a FIFA extraordinary meeting on Wednesday 
  • Shehbaz Sharif says achievement recognition of Kingdom’s growing influence in global sports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday congratulated Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Kingdom on winning the 2034 bid to host the FIFA World Cup tournament, describing the feat as a “landmark achievement.”

FIFA, the world governing body of football, on Wednesday officially named Saudi Arabia as the host nation of the FIFA World Cup 2034.

The Extraordinary FIFA Congress meeting also confirmed Morocco, Spain and Portugal as co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup.

“Heartiest congratulations to my brother HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman & the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on winning the right to host FIFA World Cup 2034!” Sharif wrote on social media platform X. 

“This landmark achievement is befitting recognition of Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in global sports & its commitment to Vision 2030.”

Football is arguably the most popular sport across the globe. Uruguay held the first football World Cup in 1930 while Argentina and Spain have also hosted the tournament. 

Portugal, Paraguay and Morocco will all be first-time hosts.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will be the second Middle Eastern nation to host the tournament after Qatar staged it in 2022. 


Pakistan stresses turning existing goodwill with Bangladesh into ‘tangible cooperation’

Pakistan stresses turning existing goodwill with Bangladesh into ‘tangible cooperation’
Updated 11 December 2024
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Pakistan stresses turning existing goodwill with Bangladesh into ‘tangible cooperation’

Pakistan stresses turning existing goodwill with Bangladesh into ‘tangible cooperation’
  • Bangladesh’s outgoing high commissioner to Pakistan meets PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad 
  • Pakistan’s relations with Bangladesh have seen a thaw following ex-PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called for translating existing goodwill between Islamabad and Dhaka into “tangible cooperation,” his office said, as both countries move toward closer ties following the ouster of former premier Sheikh Hasina.
Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during Hasina’s administration, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.
However, relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have improved since Hasina was ousted in a bloody student-led protest in August. Islamabad’s ties with Dhaka have also improved as Bangladesh’s relations with India, where Hasina has sought refuge, have deteriorated. 
Bangladesh’s outgoing high commissioner to Pakistan, Ambassador Muhammad Ruhul Alam Siddique, paid a farewell call on Sharif in Islamabad at the end of his four-year tenure on Wednesday. 
“While conveying his warm wishes to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Prime Minister remarked that the existing goodwill between Pakistan and Bangladesh needed to be translated into tangible cooperation,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. 

Outgoing High Commissioner of Bangladesh Muhammad Ruhul Alam Siddique pays a farewell call on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on December 11, 2024. (Photo courtesy: PMO)

Sharif acknowledged Siddique for promoting Pakistan-Bangladesh ties, stressing that Pakistan “greatly valued” its relations with Bangladesh rooted in shared history, common faith and cultural similarities. 
“The High Commissioner thanked the Prime Minister for the facilitation, courtesies and privileges extended to him during his stay in Pakistan,” the PMO added. 
Pakistan’s foreign office said in September that Islamabad sought “robust, multifaceted, friendly relations” with Bangladesh to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Sharif met Dr. Yunus in New York in September at a ceremony hosted by the Bangladeshi leader to mark the completion of 50 years of Bangladesh’s membership in the United Nations. 
Both sides agreed to forge stronger ties and enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields during their meeting.