ISLAMABAD
Federal Minister for Privatisation Mir Abid Hussain Bhayo has said that Pakistan is an ideal place for foreign investment and the government is keen to ensure an investor-friendly regime as it believes in ease of doing business.
The minister said this during a meeting with pre-qualified bidders of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) on Thursday. The meeting was held to revitalise the steel corporation and to find possible ways where Pakistan’s largest steel mills can be made more productive in years to come.
Bhayo said that the government’s investment policy provides both domestic and foreign investors the same incentives, concessions, and facilities for industrial development. He added, “We shall facilitate the investors up to the maximum and will welcome the site visit of PSM from the pre-qualified bidders.” He said that the government is keen to share with time-tested Chinese friends the advantages accruing from the strategic position of Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Privatisation Saleem Ahmed commented that revitalisation of Pakistan Steel Mills is vital for Pakistan’s economic growth. “Our proposed plan will not only envisage foreign direct investment and employment generation but also creation of productive capacity necessary to sustain domestic infrastructure development with access to steel slated for export from Pakistan’s strategic geo location,” he added.
He further noted the importance of Pakistan’s fraternal ties with China in enabling a long-term partnership to benefit the people of both the countries.
In the meeting federal minister, chairman, secretary and financial advisers responded to the queries/enquiries from the pre-qualified bidders.
The pre-qualified bidders who attended the meeting were: Bao Steel Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel Co. Ltd, Tangshan Donghua Iron and Steel Enterprise Group Co. Ltd, and Maanshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd. The pre-qualified parties are among the leading global manufacturers and Pakistan is offering these pre-qualified bidders access to a huge market of steel with a potential for exports across the globe.
The pre-qualified bidders inquired about the potential timeline for the approval of scheme of arrangement (included in the transaction structure of PSMC), valuation procedure, likely dilution of GoP shares, utility connections and use of jetty and land lease agreements.
After the pre-qualification of bidders, the buyer side due diligence was initiated by granting access to Virtual Data Room (VDR) from March, 2022. A request was also made for the technical professionals of each pre-Qualified Bidder to visit PSMC for inspection/assessment of the steel plant, jetty etc. Presently, buy side due diligence is on-going, however, confirmation of site visit is still awaited.
