Pakistan Overhauls State Firms’ Boards to Curb Mismanagement, Spur Efficiency

Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs), led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, on Friday approved a string of governance reforms and board overhauls across key public entities — part of a broader push to improve management, transparency, and readiness for privatization. The committee greenlit new independent directors for the Jinnah Medical Complex & Research Centre, and endorsed the reconstitution of boards for the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLIC) and Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC), aimed at tightening oversight and professionalizing operations. The Ministry of Housing and Works also secured approval for a transition plan to dissolve National Construction Limited and Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants (PEPAC), while the Ministry of Industries and Production won approval to revamp the Pakistan Institute of Management’s board to raise managerial training standards. The Petroleum Division got a nod to fill board vacancies at Inter-State Gas Systems Ltd., Pakistan State Oil Co. Ltd., and Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd. The committee made corporate governance training mandatory for all government nominees on SOE boards within six months of appointment. Additionally, a new high-level committee, chaired by the Minister for Petroleum, was formed to review the classification of energy sector SOEs as “strategic” or “essential” entities under the SOEs (Ownership and Management) Policy 2023. The meeting, attended by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and senior officials from finance, petroleum, commerce, and other divisions, signals Islamabad’s growing urgency to professionalize state enterprise governance as part of wider economic and privatization reforms.