Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited Chief Executive Officer Hatem Bamatraf has formally denied media reports suggesting that UAE telecom giant Etisalat is considering exiting the Pakistani market, describing the claims as unfounded and confirming that no such conversation was taking place within the company’s leadership. The clarification came after a report in Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn said that Etisalat was in the early stages of reviewing its exposure to the country’s telecom sector, with the review said to be part of a broader portfolio optimisation exercise that could potentially result in its exit from Pakistan.
Speaking during a webinar in response to a question from Arab News, Bamatraf said the company was going to issue a formal statement on the matter, adding that there was no such thing as an exit under discussion. He noted that while the question of an exit was ultimately one for the shareholders rather than PTCL’s management, he was confident that no such conversation was happening at Etisalat, which he described as PTCL’s managing entity. He said PTCL was in close coordination with Etisalat on strategy, budget, business planning, and company performance, and that there had been no change in behavior or any discussion of the kind being reported.
Etisalat International Pakistan took over management control of PTCL in April 2006 as part of a $2.6 billion agreement to acquire a 26 percent stake in the company. The relationship between the two entities has, however, been complicated by a long-running financial dispute. The UAE-based telecom group has withheld a final payment of approximately $800 million related to its 2005 acquisition of a 26 percent stake in PTCL, citing delays in the transfer of properties included in the deal, a position disputed by Pakistan. The unresolved payment has cast a shadow over the bilateral relationship for years, even as Pakistan and the UAE have otherwise maintained close political and economic ties, with Abu Dhabi providing significant financial support to Islamabad through deposits, loans, and investment commitments during periods of economic pressure.
In January, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met with top Etisalat officials to hold talks over its stake in PTCL and other investment prospects, with the meeting taking place against the backdrop of the long-running privatisation dispute. Earlier this month, Pakistan repaid $3.5 billion to the UAE as part of its external debt obligations, an amount that had been disbursed across three phases during the late 1990s, 2018, and 2023. With the debt repayment now complete and PTCL’s management firmly denying any exit discussion, the immediate tension around the Etisalat relationship appears to have been publicly defused, though the unresolved $800 million property transfer dispute remains an open issue between the two parties that has yet to reach a formal resolution.
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