As the Pakistan government seeks to raise funds, it is mulling to hand over its Karachi port terminals to the UAE, said a media report on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired a meeting of the cabinet committee on inter-governmental commercial transactions.
A panel will be set up to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, said a report by The Express Tribune newspaper.
According to the report, the panel has been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals.
The panel will be headed by Faisal Sabzwari, minister for maritime affairs. The panel include additional secretaries of finance and foreign affairs, special assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, chairman of KPT and general managers of the KPT.
The UAE government had shown interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals that were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year.
This move is aimed at raising emergency funds under a law enacted last year.
Last year, Pakistan’s coalition government enacted the Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act, aimed at selling state assets on a fast-track basis to raise funds.
Pakistan is in financial crisis amid uncertainty over the revival of the $6.5 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was initially signed in 2019 and is set to expire by the end of this month.
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Updated: 20 Jun 2023, 07:01 PM IST
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