Pakistan reviews privatization options for New York's Roosevelt Hotel
KARACHI: Pakistan's privatization board on Friday reviewed various options to sell off the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, a long-held property of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as part of ongoing efforts to divest loss-making state assets under an International Monetary Fund-backed reform agenda.
The 19-story Roosevelt Hotel, located in midtown Manhattan, has been closed since 2020 and is owned by the Roosevelt Hotel Corporation, a subsidiary of PIA. Its fate has been under discussion for years amid attempts to generate funds from the government's assets.
The Privatization Commission mentioned its deliberations in a statement, saying that it discussed various transaction options developed by its financial adviser — a consortium led by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. (JLL) — and finalized recommendations to be presented to the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP).
'Various transaction structure options developed by the Financial Adviser ... for privatization of Roosevelt Hotel Corporation (RHC), New York were discussed,' the statement read.
However, it did not divulge further details.
The Roosevelt Hotel is one of the assets included in the first phase of Pakistan's privatization roadmap, which also features the sale of national flag carrier PIA and Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL). The government aims to complete these transactions within a year.
Pakistan is working to privatise several state-owned enterprises as part of structural reforms under a $7 billion loan program with the IMF. Many of these entities, including PIA, have long struggled with debt, mismanagement and operational inefficiencies.
The Roosevelt Hotel was earlier used to house asylum seekers under a temporary agreement with New York City but remains a financial burden on PIA, which is itself undergoing a separate privatization process. The government is seeking to sell a 51-100 percent stake in the airline and will invite expressions of interest next week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Palestinians say local gunmen and Israeli forces opened fire near Gaza aid site
GAZA — Palestinians in Gaza say they were fired on once again as they headed to one of the aid distribution centres run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Monday. Witnesses said that for the first time they were fired on by Palestinian gunmen near the GHF site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah, in the south. They also said Israeli troops fired on them. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said six people were killed and 99 injured from areas designated for aid collection. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The GHF said the Tal al-Sultan site did not open on Monday and that there were no incidents at two other sites which did hand out aid. It comes days after Israel's prime minister acknowledged that it was arming Palestinian clans in Gaza who were opposed to Hamas. Almost every day since the GHF began distributing aid on 26 May, there have been deadly incidents near one or other of the four centres it has so far opened. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while approaching one site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah on a route that runs through an Israeli military zone. In the previous incidents, witnesses have said that Israeli forces opened fire at crowds. The Israeli military has denied that troops fired at civilians within the site, but it has said that troops fired at "suspects" who ignored warning shots and approached them. In Monday's incident, people at the scene said that Palestinian gunmen shot at them, as well as Israeli forces. They said the gunmen appeared to be allied with the Israeli forces, as they were operating near them and moved back into an Israeli military zone. One witness told BBC Arabic's Middle East daily programme that he saw a group of young men dressed in civilian clothes and with their faces completely covered when he arrived in the area to get a box of food aid from the GHF site. "At first, we thought they might be Palestinian youths helping with the process, but suddenly, they began shooting at us," Hisham Saeed Salem said. "Even those who managed to get a box of aid were targeted and shot. We still don't know who these attackers are. They took everything from us - some even stole from us during the chaos," he added. Another man, Mohammed Sakout, said: "Several young men were shot and killed right behind me. I narrowly escaped death - some bullets passed just inches from my head." "At first, it was the Israeli army that was shooting at civilians. But today, we were shocked to discover the presence of gangs and militias," he added. At Nasser hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, a seriously injured man being treated for a gunshot wound to his neck, Mohammed Kabaga, told the Associated Press: "A group of masked armed men who were organising us starting firing towards us directly." "We went to get aid. They said to stand in line. We stood in line and suddenly they started shooting at us. While I was standing, I was surprised when a bullet hit me, I got dizzy and fell down," he said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it was looking into the reports. The GHF said in a statement that it opened two sites on Monday in the Saudi neighbourhood of Rafah and Wadi Gaza, in the centre of the Strip, and that "aid distribution at both sites proceeded without incident". When asked by the BBC about the reports from Tal al-Sultan, a GHF spokesperson said there was "nothing around our sites". However, a post on the group's Facebook account did say on Monday afternoon that the Tal al-Sultan centre was closed due to the "chaos of the crowds". The GHF's interim executive director, John Acree, said it had delivered more than 11 million meals over the past two weeks "without an injury or major incident at our distribution sites". Gaza's health ministry said hospitals had received a total of 127 dead and 1,287 injured people from "areas designated for aid distribution" during the same period. The GHF, which uses US private security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Palestinians. The UN and other aid groups refuse to co-operate with the new system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. They also warn that Gaza's 2.1 million population faces catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month total Israeli blockade that was partially eased three weeks ago. The US and Israel say the GHF's system will prevent aid being stolen by Hamas, which the group denies doing. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 54,927 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. — BBC
Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Iran says it obtained Israel's nuclear secrets without providing proof
TEHRAN — Iran claims it has obtained a large batch of information on Israel's nuclear program, its intelligence minister said on Sunday, without providing any evidence to support it. Speaking to Iranian state television after a cabinet meeting, Esmail Khatib said the Intelligence Ministry had acquired 'an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence' from Israel, which he said had been 'transferred into the country with God's help.' Khatib alleged that thousands of documents had been seized, including information related to Europe, the US and other individual countries, though he did not explain how the intelligence was obtained. Khatib, a Shiite cleric who was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 for his alleged involvement in cyber espionage, said the documents would be made public soon. He claimed they were retrieved through 'infiltration' and 'access to sources,' but offered no specifics or proof. The announcement, which came days before Tehran is expected to face renewed diplomatic pressure over its own atomic activities appears to be aimed at countering a high-profile Israeli intelligence operation in 2018. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his agents had smuggled out a 'half-tonne' of documents from Iran concerning its nuclear operation was cited by US President Donald Trump when he withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear accord with latest Iranian claims come as the board of governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) prepares to meet this week, with Western nations reportedly planning to censure Iran over its failure to clarify long-standing questions about its nuclear a move could lead to the issue being referred to the UN Security Council and potentially trigger the reimposition of UN sanctions under the 'snapback' mechanism outlined in the 2015 has signaled it will reject a US-backed proposal after five rounds of nuclear talks, raising concerns of a renewed is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity — just short of the 90% level needed for nuclear weapons — and has stockpiled enough material to build several an agreement, analysts warn that Iran's already struggling economy could worsen further, potentially fuelling domestic risk of Israeli or US military action against Iranian nuclear sites also remains, amid fears that Tehran could sever cooperation with the IAEA and dash toward developing a nuclear weapon. — Euronews
Saudi Gazette
6 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Pentagon diverting key anti-drone technology from Ukraine to US forces in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon notified Congress last week that it will be diverting critical anti-drone technology that had been allocated for Ukraine to US Air Force units in the Middle East, according to correspondence obtained by CNN and people familiar with the matter. The move reflects the US' shifting defense priorities under President Donald Trump – toward the Middle East and the Pacific – and the fact that US stockpiles of some defense components are becoming increasingly stretched. The technology, proximity fuzes for the rockets Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones, was redirected from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to Air Force Central Command on orders from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the correspondence dated May 29 and sent to the Senate and House Armed Services committees. USAI is a Defense Department funding program that was established in 2014, when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. It authorizes the US government to buy arms and equipment for Ukraine directly from US weapons manufacturers. The proximity fuzes were originally purchased for Ukraine but were redirected to the Air Force as a 'Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue,' the correspondence says. The notification was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The Pentagon has in recent months redirected a large amount of equipment and resources to the Middle East, including air defense systems out of the Indo-Pacific Command, amid threats from Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It is not yet clear what the impact will be of diverting the fuzes away from Ukraine. But the technology has made their rockets more effective against Russian drones, since the fuze sets off an added explosion as the rocket nears the drone. US forces in the Middle East have had to contend with drones, too, however, particularly from Iran-backed groups in Syria and Iraq. — CNN
