LAHORE: The business community Wednesday hailing the decision of the
government for laying off 9300 Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) employees termed that public-
private partnership is key to economic turnaround in the country especially in steel sector.
Talking to a delegation of steel traders led by Barrister Mian Rehman Aziz, former zonal
chairman FPCCI Punjab,President elect SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and
United Business Group (UBG) Chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik said privatization is the need of the
hour; the role of government should be limited to prudent regulations and deepening of reforms.
He said the total losses and liabilities of the mills have gone beyond Rs500bn, besides about
$2.5bn in foreign exchange loss per annum to the country because of import of steel that should
have been produced at the PSM.
He said only through public-private partnership, PSM had the potential of becoming a profitable
enterprise given its ideal location, market and facilities.
He said our public sector development programmes are less than three percent of our GDP, while
in order to upgrade the infrastructure to desired level we need annual investment of 10 percent of
our GDP. “This would come from the private sector only by attracting both local and foreign
investors. Korea, Japan and China are successful examples of public-private partnerships in
infrastructure,” he added.
Appreciating Prime Minister Imran Khan’s economic vision in this regard, he said this is really
appreciable that the government was changing its role from being owner and operator to owner-
and-policy maker and the PSM a “white elephant” that the country needs to get rid of, especially
at a time when the country’s economic situation is worsening.
He further said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s role against coronavirus pandemic is also
appreciable as the government was making all-out efforts to deal with the deadly virus.
