To cover up the immense amount of loss that the Telephone Industry of Pakistan (TIP) has suffered in the past few years, the government is planning to privatize the country’s only telecom equipment maker. The government has added TIP in the privatization list to generate more revenue annually.
The news of the privatization broke out after a recent meeting of the Standing Committee of National Assembly on Information Technology and Telecommunication, headed by Ali Khan Jadoon.
The committee’s chairman Ali Jadoon inquired from the IT Ministry officials that why the TIP’s land in Haripur is not being used by the authorities. The IT officials then informed the committee that the land is vacant because the government has added TIP in the privatization list.
It was also told to the committee a plan is being devised by the authorities, under which the TIP land would be allocated for mobile manufacturing units.
It was also discussed in the meeting that the government will formally start the negotiation process with EXIM Bank of Korea, to establish a Technology Park in Islamabad at an estimated cost of 88.383 million dollars. The government at the moment is expecting to get a loan of $76.31 million from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (ECDF) from the EXIM Bank, at 0.1% interest rate for 40 years with 10 years grace period.
Secretary MoITT Maroof Afzal said during the meeting that there are a total of five IT parks in Rawalpindi/Islamabad and eight in Lahore and Karachi.
