www.gulfnews.com Jordan will soon set into motion plans to privatise its airline and divest the part government holding in Jordan Telecom, the chairman of the country's Privatisation Commission said.
Dr. Mohammad S. Abu-Hammour said the process of privatising Royal Jordanian Airlines was first initiated in 2000 but the events after September 11, 2001 stalled further moves.
"But now we are restarting the privatisation of the airline. In about 12 months we will be able to finalise the privatisation," he told Gulf News on the sidelines of the Privatisation Conference.
"It has not yet been decided whether we will opt for a public offering or take a strategic partner." The International Finance Corp (IFC), part of the World Bank, he said, is acting as legal and financial consultant on the privatisation. "We are waiting for their recommendations."
But the airline has already privatised its non-core business such as duty free and others, he added.
Meanwhile, Jordan is close to finalising the sale of 41.5 per cent in Jordan Telecom, he said.
"Three bidders are serious about buying the stake. They are Gulf Finance House of Bahrain, France Telecom and a major investor from Jordan. We may decide to sell blocks or do a secondary offering, but this will be finalised shortly."
The remaining 58.5 per cent was sold in 2000 to France Telecom (40 per cent), the Social Security Corporation (9 per cent) and the balance through an initial public offering (IPO) in 2002.
"Privatisation has helped in improved services and inward investments and therefore Jordan is looking at more privatisations," he told the conference earlier.
Since 1996, some 66 companies have been privatised in Jordan of which some 13 were big ticket transactions in certain key sectors.
"Privatisation will continue and current projects range from $10 million to $1 billion. What helps privatisation is the leadership and the legal framework in the country," he said. |