Biman to be made public limited company

[GoldenAsif]

Biman set to become public limited company
Staff Correspondent

The caretaker government has decided to turn Biman Bangladesh Airlines into a public limited company under a re-structuring plan to turn the huge loss incurring national airlines into a profitable organisation.The government's restructuring plan is likely to cut Biman's existing 6,838-strong manpower to half.

"The government is thinking about making the national airlines profitable by turning it into a public limited company. But the government will own hundred per cent share," said Communications and Civil Aviation Adviser MA Matin after a meeting yesterday.



A high-powered committee headed by the secretary of the civil aviation ministry, already recommended transforming the corporation into a public limited commercial company. The report of the committee was placed before a consultation meeting of the adviser with civil society members at the civil aviation ministry.

After the meeting Matin told the reporters that he would place the committee's recommendations at the advisory council meeting for final approval. "I shall recommend making Biman a limited company by June."

Admitting that the restructuring plan would cut the existing manpower into half, Matin said the government would formulate a guideline for releasing corrupt and additional manpower through golden handshake.

Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, and economist Abul Barakat, who were present at the meeting on behalf of the civil society members, blamed the corporation's incurring huge loss every year mainly to corruption and mismanagement.

Former secretary Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui, Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission Faruque Ahmed Siddiqui, President of FBCCI Mir Nasir Hossain, acting Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation Sheikh Altaf Ali were also present at the consultation meeting.

Debapriya Bhattacharya suggested that the government undertake the re-structuring plan at least in two phases. In the first phase, the government should formulate the documents for turning the corporation into a public limited company and take preparation for inviting foreign direct investment (FDI) and strategic partners.

In the second phase, the financial balance sheet would be restructured and shares off loaded through initial public offering (IPO). The huge liabilities of the corporation amounting around Tk 700 crore could be also transferred into a block account for attracting FDI, Debapriya said.

He said the government should also reschedule the existing routes while continuing the commercially viable routes like Middle East and Malaysia.

He told The Daily Star that the first phase should take 3-4 months and the second phase one and a half years for implementation.

When asked about the adviser's comment that the government wanted to keep 100 per cent share at its hand even after making it a public limited company, Debapriya said, "Nothing will change if government shares are not offloaded."

Asked whether cutting the manpower would be a drastic step, Debapriya said under the restructuring plan none would be terminated and the additional manpower would be given option for retirement through a golden handshake.

Biman incurs a loss of Tk 4,000 to 5,000 crore annually only for corruption, Prof Abul Barakat, a teacher of Economics of Dhaka University told the reporters.

"If we can stop the corruption, Biman can earn an annual profit of Tk 2,000 crore," he said.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/04/26/d7042601044.htm

BD is going through a cultural and political revolution. It is time to enter the modern era, of working hard, competitivity and success and to abandon corruption, village politics and backwardness.

[GoldenAsif]

Could somebody please delete my earlier thread about this which mistakenly said Biman was to be "privatized".

Thanks.

[gatekeeper]

About time.

[sunny747]

excellent..........hasina /khaleda couldnt' do this in their bloody 15 years reign ......ctg is doing in just few months.........

[Aritro]

Do any of our resident economists want to explain what that actually means in layman's terms?

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Aritro
Do any of our resident economists want to explain what that actually means in layman's terms?

May be Special_1 can explain?

Special_1, are you there?

[al Furqaan]

good...this is what i was wating for...but the next step is they need a new fleet.

its time they buy the 777-200s they were supposed to, and a couple 777-300s won't hurt either.

[ialbd]

good news indeed, finally..... finally...

[Rabz]

yap..very good news...
its about time..

[ammark]

So... they are gonna list it publicly, and first thing to face Biman will be a Tk. 5000 crore fuel bill debt. Interesting... I doubt I'd want to buy Biman shares on IPO

[Alien]

Originally Posted by sunny747
excellent..........hasina /khaleda couldnt' do this in their bloody 15 years reign ......ctg is doing in just few months.........

It's because they didnt want to do it.

[PoorFan]

Originally Posted by sunny747
excellent..........hasina /khaleda couldnt' do this in their bloody 15 years reign ......ctg is doing in just few months.........

Because Biman was a ( easy ) money making machine to them and to their relatives.