New Delhi, Jan 24 (AHN) The Pakistan government has moved ahead with privatisation plans of Islamabad International Airport after it shelved a plan to outsource the management and operations to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as Abu Dhabi apparently “lost interest in the process”, a new report has said.

The UAE repeatedly delayed nominating an entity for the outsourcing of Islamabad International Airport leading to a deadlock between the two countries, report from The Express Tribune said, citing sources.

Sources said the Pakistani side sought a clear response from the UAE by sending a final call letter, however, the UAE responded saying it confirm any nominated entity, the report claimed.

The government has now moved Islamabad International Airport into a list of institutions to be privatised. Earlier, the country had privatised Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The government had not acceded to the UAE's request for inclusion of Jinnah International Airport (JIAP), Karachi, and Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP), Lahore, in the draft government-to-government (G2G) framework agreement, the report said.

Further, Abu Dhabi's request for privatisation of the air link between Abu Dhabi and Pakistan under the draft G2G framework agreement was also overlooked by Islamabad, the report indicated.

A delegation led by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation, along with senior officers from the concerned ministries, also visited Abu Dhabi to hold meetings with UAE officials to discuss and finalise the draft framework agreement.

The Privatisation Division had earlier submitted a summary to the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) proposing the inclusion of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports in the active privatisation list for outsourcing.

A recent report said that poor governance and mismanagement due to political interference are leading to huge losses in Pakistan’s state-owned enterprises, after which they are put up for distress sale at throwaway prices.

State-owned enterprises keep being retained despite declining performance and weak accountability. Once they have accumulated massive losses and unsustainable debt, privatisation is considered, the report said.

—AHN

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