President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday advised the government to set up a committee of federal ministers for privatisation, finance, petroleum and water and power and representatives of the private sector to finalise proposals for the privatisation of public sector enterprises (PSEs) within four weeks.
During a meeting with a delegation of the Pakistan Business Council at the Presidency, Zardari said it was essential that the government and businessmen continue to cooperate in the formulation and implementation of economic development policies for sustained economic development and recovery. The meeting was held in continuation of the president’s earlier meetings with the Pakistan Business Council, the most recent on April 29, to seek their input for overcoming economic challenges and bettering economic management.
The president reiterated his call and underscored the need for business communities to step forward and create consensus on overcoming economic challenges and to own and ensure continuity of economic development policies.
He complimented the Pakistan Business Council for their help in identification of major economic issues and for their endeavours to seek consensus of all stakeholders in order to tackle those issues.
Lauding the role of businessmen, the president said businessmen were invaluable assets of the country and any meaningful economic development was not possible without their enterprise, cooperation and sincere input.
He said law and order and energy crisis were the major challenges and the government was trying its best to address them in order to facilitate businesses in the country.
Zardari said various reforms were being introduced to help the economy get on the path of progress.
Representatives of the Pakistan Business Council gave a detailed presentation on the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, energy and equity markets.
The president welcomed the suggestions put forth during the presentation, saying the suggestions would be considered by the government for implementation.
Those present in the meeting included Asad Umar, Abdul Razzaq Dawood, Ali S Habib, Atif Bokhari, Bashir Ali Mohammad, Farooq Shakoor, Iqbal Lakhani, Mian Muhammad Mansha, Sikandar Mustafa Khan, Zakir Mehmood, Gohar Ejaz, Shahzad Ali Khan, Yasin Siddik, Ahmed Kuli Khan Khattak, Munir Kamal and Arif Habib.
Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Ghous Bux Khan Maher, Syed Naveed Qamar, Salman Faruqui, Muhammad Basharat Raja, Dr Nadeemul Haq, Hina Rabbani, the Planning Commission deputy chairman, state ministers for foreign affairs and finance and other senior officials were present during the meeting.
