Etisalat’s $263mn settlement offer refused
Pakistan on Tuesday turned down an offer from Etisalat for the settlement of a privatisation dispute with payment of $263 million, which was only one-third of the outstanding dues, and asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) company to double the amount.
The offer made by UAE’s telecom giant Etisalat is even lower than the price it was willing to pay six years ago. A delegation of Etisalat met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for the second time in two months to find a solution to the 17-year-old privatisation dispute.
The company owes $800 million in privatisation proceeds of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). However, no Pakistani government has taken the buyer to the international court of arbitration.
“Both sides agreed to proceed with the resolution of all outstanding issues between Etisalat and the Privatisation Commission in a spirit of goodwill,” said the Ministry of Finance. But it did not share terms of the offer.
Over 10,500 telecom towers to be outsourced
A consortium of a Pakistani firm and a UAE-based company reported on Tuesday that Telecom Tower Infrastructure Company has “conditionally accepted the offer” to sell over 10,500 telecom towers to the conglomerate in Pakistan.
An industry official told that the outsourcing of the mobile towers by a leading mobile phone service provider would help it improve tower management and reduce cost as well.
At the same time, the sale will enable it to focus more on its core business of providing improved services and offer better products to mobile phone users.
TPL Properties Company Secretary Danish Qazi said in a notification to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that “the parent of one of the largest telecom tower operators in Pakistan has conditionally accepted the offer, subject to signing of definitive (final) agreements, all necessary corporate approvals and receipt of relevant regulatory approvals, made by our subsidiary TPL REIT Management Company Limited in partnership with (UAE’s) TASC Towers for acquisition of their subsidiary (Telecom Tower Infrastructure Company), which owns and manages more than 10,500 telecom towers in Pakistan”.
IT sector register’s sluggish growth at 5pc
Despite being entirely free from the cumbersome process of acquiring Letters of Credit (LCs) and not being dependent on imports for its raw material, the export volume of the information technology (IT) sector only grew a meagre 5 percent in November year-on-year (YoY). Analysts are laying the blame for this low number on the government’s indifference towards unconventional export sectors.
Speaking to the source on the condition of anonymity, an official from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication said, “Globally, IT companies’ exports grow in hundreds and thousands of times, a potential that Pakistan has in abundance but cannot tap into due to inconsistent policies. The cooperation of the finance ministry, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is crucial in this regard.”
“Any suggestion given to them by our ministry, however, is ignored,” said the official, lamenting that, “People in the government do not understand the export potential held by the IT sector.”
Energy minister’s absence irks senate panel
A parliamentary panel has expressed displeasure at the absence of Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir from a briefing on illegal appointments in the power-sector entities.
It was noted that the minister had failed to turn up in any of the meetings of the upper house committee in the past eight months, which annoyed its members. In Tuesday’s meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Power, its members decided to approach the Senate chairman to express their reservations about what they said was the lethargic attitude of the energy minister.
Senator Saifullah Abro chaired the Senate committee’s meeting. The energy minister skipped the huddle where he had to give a briefing on illegal appointments in the power sector.
“The energy minister is more powerful than the eight members of the committee as he doesn’t bother to attend its meeting,” remarked Chairman Saifullah Abro. He revealed that he had written a letter to the Senate to convey his reservations but it offended many people in the secretariat. “We will approach the Senate chairman to express our reservations,” he said.
Pakistan identifies $8.2bn flood funding gap
Pakistan has identified a funding gap of $8.2 billion against the $16.3 billion total flood rehabilitation and reconstruction requirements — setting the goal for the international donors conference next month.
The $8.2 billion gap appeared too large to be filled in the Geneva conference amid low response to the UN’s $816 million emergency appeal, high risks of Pakistan’s sovereign default, and possible derailment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme because of imprudent economic policies.
The planning ministry has finalised the resilient, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction framework, dubbed as 4RF, showing a financing gap of $8.2 billion.
The framework has been developed with the help of the Asian Development Bank, European Union, UN Development Programme, and World Bank Group.
Blue economy has potential of over $100bn
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said that Pakistan’s blue economy has potential of over $100 billion and that the government is launching new projects to develop coastal areas to tap into all possibilities.
Addressing the opening session of the international symposium on Geo Economic and Maritime dimensions of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the minister highlighted that after taking charge, the alliance government has expedited work on the projects under CPEC.
He said during the four years of the previous government, no work was done on the projects in the port city of Gwadar.