Pakistan has urged China to participate in the bidding process for steel mills.
Pakistan has urged China to participate in the bidding process for steel mills. At the same time, Pakistan has reiterated its decision to keep steel mills closed for six years out of the C-Pack framework. Government sources told the Express Tribune that the issue of selling the country’s largest industrial unit to China was discussed at a meeting between Finance Minister Hamad Azhar and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong. At the ninth meeting of the C-Pac Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), Pakistan had told China that it wanted to include Pakistan Steel Mills in the C-Pac framework.
Under the C-Pack framework, projects are not open to global investors and only Chinese investors can participate in the bidding process. However, a year ago, the government, on the advice of then-Finance Advisor Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, decided to keep the steel mills out of the C-Pack framework.
China wants to participate in the competitive bidding process of major Pakistan Steel Mills. Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to complete the sale of Pakistan Steel Mills as soon as possible, but the matter is moving at an alarmingly slow pace. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Hamad Azhar had stated that the bidding process for the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills would take place this week.
