HSBC, NOMURA, LSE to invest in Privatization

[sparklingway]

Top investment groups show interest in privatisation​

Tuesday, 13 Jul, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The World’s top investment and financial groups, including HSBC, NOMURA UK and London Stock Exchange, have shown keen interest in the current plans of Pakistan’s Privatization Commission for the issuance of Equity Linked Instruments i.e. Convertible and Exchangeable Bonds for State Owned Entities and pursuing privatization process under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode.

The senior officials from HSBC, NOMURA, London Stock Exchange and major financial institutions in London expressed these views during meetings with Federal Minister for Privatization Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, said a message received from the United Kingdom.

During the meetings, senior banking officials apprised the minister on the current global economic and financial environment and discussed various options for increasing foreign investment in Pakistan. They said that frontier markets like Pakistan were the key to future global growth and that current market conditions were opportune for foreign investment in Pakistan.

Senator Waqar, who is currently on a visit to UK, informed the groups that the current SOE restructuring plan being pursued by the Privatization Commission of Paksitan would further improve the current overall economic environment and would turnaround the loss making entities into profitable ones.

This restructuring plan involved for generating capital via equity linked instruments and efficient utilization of proceeds for organizational restructuring of the transactions on the privatization agenda, he added.

The Minister further said that the strong and visionary political leadership has made the economic environment in Pakistan more conducive for investment through consistency and continuity of investment friendly policies.

The international community could a play vital role in promoting foreign investment in Pakistan, which would help alleviate fiscal pressures on Pakistan created by the war on terror, he said.

London Stock Exchange Chief Executive Xavier Rolet invited him as a ‘key note’ speaker at the exchange.

Political harmony between Pakistan and the world was essential for progress and proposed visits of leading teams from their institutions to Pakistan in order to meet key stakeholders in the country so as to take a step forward and indulge in profitable investments in the country, the officials opined.