There was a time when  ' Great People to Fly With' and Excellent people, excellent service' was the hallmark of PIA.

It was counted among the world's leading airlines and played a role in building many airlines. Then we had to see the time when the terrible shadow of misery began to loom over it. During the PTI regime, the irresponsible statement of the Aviation Minister on the assembly floor left no stone unturned in destroying its reputation.  PIA's profitable routes and flights to Europe were closed. The loss increased by billions of dollars. The situation became such that only one bid came for its privatization and even that made the world laugh.  The government changed, PIA also entered a new era and flights to Europe were resumed after a four and a half year hiatus.  Yesterday, the first flight of the national airline reached Paris carrying 309 passengers, where it was warmly welcomed.  One would congratulate the nation on the resumption of flights to Europe.

A special ceremony was held at Islamabad Airport before the departure of the first flight, where the digntories termed the resumption of flight operations a historic day and said that it is a tragedy that there is no accountability for wrong decisions.  PIA has a debt of Rs 800 billion. Several hundred billion were lost due to the suspension of service to Europe for four and a half years. The national identity of the airline has been restored with the efforts of the current government. Flights to the UK and the US will be launched in the coming days.  Efforts will be made to privatize it soon and compete like other commercial airlines and it will regain its lost position. This will promote trade, tourism and business between Pakistan, France and the European Union. It is expected that 2025 will be a year of success for PIA. Meanwhile,  experts  term the privatization of loss-making public institutions has been called inevitable for a long time to restore the national economy. Preparations for starting this process with PIA had been going on for a long time. 

Expensive administrators were also hired for this purpose and the Privatization Commission apparently made major preparations of its own. The government took the major part of the burden of the loss, but only one of the six institutions shortlisted in the bidding stage two days ago gave a bid and that too only ten billion rupees compared to the government's fixed amount of 85 billion rupees.  The situation has not only affected the positive expectations associated with the process of privatization but has also raised doubts about the prospects of recovery of the national economy. The head of the ruling party Muslim League-N and former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has informed that the proposal of buying PIA is being considered by the Punjab government, while the Chief Minister of KP has also announced that his The government is ready to buy the national airline for more than ten billion.  It is good that Pakistan has encouraged the overseas Pakistanis to invest in Pakistan. Undoubtedly, it is the need of the hour for Pakistani investors to come forward to speed up the process of revitalization of the national economy, as all over the world the national or government control of business enterprises has largely ended and the private sector has been freed. With this, ample opportunities are being provided to play their role in the economic process.

Pakistan also experienced the nationalization of all private businesses, including banks and educational institutions, fifty years ago, but as a result, these businesses became vested interests.  And they fell prey to corruption and finally it was necessary to return them to the private sector again.  An institution like PIA which was our national pride also went on the path of destruction due to immense recruitments and allusions and continuous heavy losses.  Privatization of this institution has been made it inevitable. However, a bid of just ten billion rupees after months of preparation clearly shows that much thought has been left behind before the auction stage. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a well-thought-out strategy for all public institutions under consideration for privatisation, including PIA.  It is also necessary to keep in mind the fact that handing over everything to the private sector in an emergency may also be against the national interest.

 As a result, nexus of investors and industrialists will come into existence for the sake of illegal profiteering. In our country, the sectors of sugar and cement etc. have become mafia in the same way. The most developed capitalist countries of the world like the United States and the United Kingdom are also facing this situation.  The British government has recently decided to take the train service back into the public sector due to its high cost.  In Pakistan, the Sindh government has successfully experimented with running institutions in a private and public partnership. Transport and medical sectors are at the forefront of this process.  The establishment of Utility Stores Corporation was also implemented to protect the interest of the common consumer which yielded very useful results but the lack of interest of the government led to its failure.  However, such measures are indispensable to prevent the private sector from arbitrary profiteering and the process of privatization of all related institutions including PIA must be taken forward by thinking about all these aspects. In fact, with coming into power, the  current had declared privatization of loss-making departments was declared as the first priority. Remember that various ministries have already declared more than 60 institutions of national importance.

In May last, Ishaq Dar had directed the relevant authorities to re-determine their status. According to the decisions  taken in the meeting, the top priorities are PIA, First Women Bank, House  Building Finance Corporation, electricity distribution companies include LESCO, PESCO, CEPCO, ISCO, MAPCO, JEPCO and HESCO, State Life Insurance, Sindh Engineering and Pakistan Reinsurance Corporation are already part of the privatization list. The May meeting had also considered  the transfer of more than 32 crore shares of OGDC to the Ministry of Energy. It should be clear that the government's privatization program includes those government institutions  that are found to be mismanged or they do not have the power to compete, but have become a burden on the government.