950820

PM orders a

special cell

for PTC sale

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has ordered creation of a special dedicated group comprising officials from the Privatization Commission, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation and the consultants Morgan Grenfell/Muslim Commercial Bank, with the objective to maximize privatization proceeds in the shortest possible time frame.

This decision was taken to reduce the time taken in decision-making on policy matters and to counter vested interest groups coming into interplay causing unnecessary delays.

It is learnt that a separate office for the PTC Privatization Group is being created where a dedicated team would be wholly engaged in completing the due diligence and creating interest among international buyers.

Zubair Aijaz along with two or three others from the Privatization Commission. Baqai from PTC and Tim Taylor and Kameel Koot the Dutch technical consultant along with 8 to 10 other people will be part of the team being formed to avoid the "us and them" concept getting into play.

The chartered accounting firm Cooper and Lybrant assisted by their local counterparts Abacus will be starting its work within this week.

The legal consultants Denton Hall and their local affiliate Ahsan Rizvi Bar-at-Law have already taken up their task.

The PM's decision to give top priority to PTC privatization is reportedly prompted not only by the need to prop up the falling forex reserves but mainly to bring back vibrancy on the local bourses where the market players' portfolio has shrunk by $400 million. It is therefore paramount that people entrusted with the privatization of PTC do not lose focus of the task in hand and indulge in pulling each other in different directions. As such, all decisions would be taken under one roof.

The major reason for the delay in finalizing the agreement with Morgan Grenfell was the lack of local expertise to handle contracts of such nature. There was also a major issue with Grenfell wanting arbitration clause to be under English Law in London. The government did not agree with this and insisted that all disputes be settled under the agreement under Pakistan law within Pakistan. The consultants finally accepted this and the agreement was concluded last week.