PC shakes off inertia, now ready to privatise 12 SoEs

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Kayes M Sohel
The Privatisation Commission (PC) that virtually remained inactive in the past couple of years has come out with a fresh list of 12 state-owned enterprises (SoEs) for privatisation.
With this the PC has now 38 SoEs ready for privatisation.
"The commission has made a list of the 12 entities under jute and textile ministry for transferring those to the private sector," a high official of the commission told the FE.
Of the twelve entities, seven are under Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), three under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and three under Bangladesh Handloom Board, sources said.
They included Ahmed Bawany Textile Mills Ltd, Quaderia Textile Mills Ltd, Chittaranjan Cotton Mills Ltd, Quomi Jute Mills Limited and Douladia Jute Mills Ltd.
The Commission will send the new list soon to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for approval, said a source.
However, the PC, an independent body created for smooth transfer of the public sector entities to the private sector, was scheduled to make the new list by March last, but failed to do so because of reluctance from different government organisations, he added.
On December 23 last, bodies having representations from ministries concerned were formed separately to identify the SoEs suitable for privatisation and prepare a list accordingly by March this year.
Excepting jute and textile ministry that sent the 12 SoEs list to the PC a week ago other ministries like industry ministry has failed to identify the SoEs for privatisation.
About 26 SoEs listed earlier, a high official of the commission said, it could not make any headway in the task of transferring these enter prises to the private sector because of bureaucratic red-tape, legal complexities and lukewarm response from the prospective buyers, sources said.
On the failure to privatise the SoEs in the last two years, a high official said: "The valuation of the properties, movable and immovable, is so unrealistic that prospective entrepreneurs find them unattractive. The PC had invited bids on several occasions, but the response was very poor."
According to the commission, 74 SoEs under the textiles, jute, fisheries, food processing, engineering, chemicals, tannery, sugar, and forest have been privatised since 1993, 54 through inviting bids and the rest by offloading shares.
To create more employment opportunities, improve operational, production, management and plant utilisation efficiency, the government constituted the Privatisation Board in 1993, which was later converted into a Commission in 2000 through an act of parliament.