Dubai : Pakistan expects to resolve land transfers linked to a deal with the etisalat buying a stake in Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL) in a month's time, an official said.
In 2006, Etisalat signed an agreement to purchase a 26 per cent stake in PTCL for $2.6 billion (Dh9.54 billion) through Etisalat International Pakistan (EIP), but so far only $1.4 billion has been paid.
"We have agreed with etisalat that the remaining amount will be paid once the land included in the deal which has around 3,000 properties is transferred," Shahab Khawaja, secretary of the Pakistan's Privatisation Committee said in a telephone interview.
"So far about 93 per cent of the land has been transferred and we expect to resolve the issue with remaining areas in about a month's time."
Last month, etisalat said that the remaining $1.2 billion will be paid in equal instalments over a period of four and a half years in consideration for "certain corresponding deliverables by the Pakistani counterpart".
Pakistan had set up a committee to help facilitate the transfer of the land, which is mainly located in the Punjab and Sindh provinces, said Khawaja.
"This committee was formed after the chairman of etisalat called on the Pakistan's Prime Minister to speed up the transfer process of the land, and both parties are committed to concluding this deal."
Etisalat, the Arab world's second-biggest telecom firm, has faced increased competition in its home market after its monopoly was broken in 2007 by du.
Etisalat operates in 18 countries.
