PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel in New York may attain cultural heritage status after
100 years
While efforts to sell the Roosevelt Hotel are gaining momentum,
Pakistan expresses optimism that New York authorities will designate the hotel
as a cultural heritage site once it reaches the century mark since its
construction.
This matter came to the forefront during a recent meeting of
the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP).
The caretaker government has instructed the cabinet
committee to accelerate the process of appointing financial advisors for the
sale of the Roosevelt Hotel, as approved by the CCOP.
PIA
not to sell New York’s Roosevelt Hotel
During the CCOP meeting, it was revealed that on August 22,
2023, the committee had given instructions to initiate the process of hiring
financial advisors to lease the Roosevelt site. Previously, the Request for
Proposal was approved in March 2023, and in May 2023, the Economic Coordination
Committee (ECC) approved the Aviation Division's proposal to lease the
Roosevelt Hotel to NY City Health and Hospitals.
The Aviation Division also conveyed that the Privatisation
Commission (PC) should continue to move forward with the hiring of advisors. In
August 2023, the CCOP directed the relevant officials to commence the hiring
process and publish advertisements in prominent New York and national
newspapers. The cabinet subsequently ratified the CCOP's decision, noting that
advertisements would be published in due course.
During the meeting, the committee was informed about the
prospects of the hotel being recognized as a cultural heritage site by New York
authorities once it reaches 100 years since its construction in 1924.
In the discussion, the Ministry of Privatisation secretary
provided an update to the cabinet committee on the country's privatization
program. He offered insights into the status of companies on the active
privatization list and highlighted that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
had been included in the list in 2013.
Privatization
of PIA-owned Scribe Hotel in the pipeline
Since then, numerous efforts have been made for its
restructuring. The Privatisation Commission appointed a consortium in 2014 to
facilitate private sector participation in core airline operations after the
financial advisers completed thorough due diligence in 2015. Based on the
advisers' recommendations and the necessary legislative process, the PIAC
(Conversion) Act 2016 was enacted, converting PIA into a public limited company
known as Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).
Under Sub-section 4 of the Act, the federal government was
prohibited from transferring management control or privatizing the airline
business, ensuring that it retained a minimum of 51% of shares. Consequently,
only 49% of shares could be divested, making PIACL unattractive for private
sector involvement. On August 7, 2023, the parliament approved an amendment to
this provision to facilitate the privatization of PIACL.
The CCOP subsequently approved the inclusion of PIA in the
privatization program, a decision that was also ratified by the cabinet.
Source: Express Tribune