The Federal Cabinet approved National Aviation Policy 2023 at the request of the Ministry of Aviation at its last-ever meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting was presided over by outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was given a complete rundown by the Secretary Cabinet from April 20 to August 8, 2023.
On the directions of the chair, the cabinet approved the auction of all valuable gifts received by the prime minister’s office in the past 15 months.
On the suggestion of the Ministry of Commerce, the cabinet okayed the nomination of technical and non-technical members of the National Tariff Commission. Appointments for various other state institutions were also finalized and approved by the cabinet members.
The federal cabinet approved the formation of the Special Investment Facility Secretariat with Jameel Ahmed Qureshi as its secretary/chief accounting officer.
On the advice of the Power Division, the cabinet approved changes to the solar policy. Solarization of government buildings and the government’s 10,000-MW solarisation objective will be secured following the implementation of these changes.
The federal cabinet also adopted the Economic Coordination Committee’s approved agenda items from meetings conducted on July 26, August 7, and August 8, 2023.
The federal cabinet endorsed all decisions made by the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions last week and further approved all decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation on August 7, 2023.
New Aviation Policy to Revive PIA?
Federal Minister for Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique on Wednesday said that the federal government has approved the new National Aviation Policy -2023 to help reviving the national carrier and promoting public-private joint ventures.
Addressing a press conference, the minister expressed the hope that under this new policy all missing aspects will be covered and private investors will be encouraged to invest in this sector.
He said that the policy will also help in promotion of the domestic aviation industry, attract private investment for the management and development of new airports, increasing facilities for passengers, improving consumers’ protection and encouraging aviation sector.
He said that the privatization or public-private investment is the only option to improve the standard of aviation sector in Pakistan as attracting international brands is not possible when the sector is working in limited resources. He said that the capturing the business of international brands is the need of the hours to increase business activities at country’s airports to increase revenue generation.
