LONDON: A high level delegation of Privatization Commission and representatives of public and private companies headed by Federal Minister for Privatization Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan has arrived here to participate in Pakistan Capital Markets and Privatisation forum due to take place at London Stock Exchange (LSE) on December 10.Organized by LSE in conjunction with Nomura Dubai, the forum will showcase a wide range of Pakistani companies including Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC). Pakistan Railways, Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Pakistan Steel, ENGRO, Luck, HUBCO, MCB, Bestway, BMA, AKD Securities, Jahangir Siddique, Arif Habib, KASB Bank, Trust Bank, Barclays and SCB.Senator Khan has been invited by the London Stock Exchange for the keynote address. The minister is accompanied by high level representatives of large number of companies besides the Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation, Senator Wasim Sajjad and members of the Privatization Committee Senators Adnan Shah, Ilyas Bilour and Imtiaz Shaikh.
The event will showcase the opportunities available to internationalinvestors in the Pakistan economy and is designed to both represent a number of Pakistan based listed and public companies and connect them with a wide range of senior representatives from the international buy-side investor and corporate advisor communities.The Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation (SSCOP) has already given unanimous support to the Privatisation Commission (PC) for its equity-linked activity (Convertible Bonds) in the global market to turnaround the State Owned Entities (SoEs) while PC Board had also given go ahead in this regard. The proposal was last month presented at the highest level before the President and the Prime Minister.Privatisation transactions via capital markets (22 of 167 transactions) have so far raised Rs. 133 Bn (29% of total privatisation proceeds amounting Rs. 477 Bn) and going forward in this direction Privatisation can play vital role in reinvigoration of business activity and capital markets of Pakistan. Capital Market Transactions such as Public Offerings and Equity Linked Instruments will provide momentum to the privatisation program.According to Saira Najeeb, the Commercial Secretary at the Pakistan High Commission , this event will further strengthen economic links between Pakistan and the UK and also bring direct benefits to the companies presenting and the wider economy of Pakistan as well as bringing closer the leading business and investment groups to explore the areas of interest – App
