Slug: muhammad-ali-energy-sector-private-control-trust-framework
Category: Business
Focus keyphrase: Pakistan energy sector private control
SEO title: Adviser Wants Energy Sector Handed to Private Sector
Meta description: Adviser Muhammad Ali told the CEO Summit 2026 that energy management should move to the private sector to cut costs and attract investment.
Tags: muhammad ali, privatisation commission, energy sector, ceo summit 2026, trust framework, taxation, soes, qaiser ahmed sheikh
Original element: explainer context — the adviser’s TRUST framework and reform priorities are placed alongside our own prior coverage of Pakistan’s energy crisis, the IMF’s gas-sector reform push and the OGDCL Sindh discovery, with internal links.
Adviser Wants Energy Sector Handed to Private Sector
ISLAMABAD: The government should transfer energy-sector management and decision-making to the private sector to promote competition, improve efficiency, attract investment and reduce costs, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation Muhammad Ali said on Thursday, naming energy, taxation and state-owned enterprises as the three areas most in need of reform.
Addressing the CEO Summit Islamabad 2026, organised by CEO Club Pakistan, Ali said high power costs undermined the competitiveness of domestic industries and stressed the need for affordable, reliable and sustainable energy supplies.
The TRUST framework
The adviser presented a framework called TRUST, focused on targeting sectors where Pakistan has competitive strengths, implementing sustainable reforms, attracting private capital, scaling up exports and developing talent.
He said sectoral priorities should be set through five considerations: proven strength, the ability to deliver with existing institutions and infrastructure, global demand, employment generation at scale and foreign-exchange earnings. Applying these criteria, he identified agriculture, textiles and information technology and digital services as offering the best opportunities for employment creation, higher output and export growth.
Pakistan’s agriculture, he said, needed a new wave of development focused on improving crop yields, storage facilities, processing and value-added exports, building on the gains of the Green Revolution of the 1960s. In textiles and apparel, the country needed to move beyond yarn and fabric towards finished garments, brands and technical fabrics.
Pakistani youth were already serving international clients through freelance work, he said, and better organisation of the sector and stronger digital skills could help capture growing global demand.
On taxation and past crises
On taxation, Ali emphasised documenting the economy to broaden the tax base and distribute the burden more fairly, saying too few taxpayers were carrying a disproportionate share.
He said Pakistan had faced severe economic challenges during 2022 and 2023, including fiscal constraints, low productivity, production curtailments, high inflation and high interest rates. “We cannot go through that sort of test again,” he said. “So we need to do something to avoid it in the future.”
Citing international examples, he said China had built on its agricultural strengths after launching reforms in 1978, South Korea had developed textiles and plywood in the 1960s, Vietnam had transformed from a rice importer into a major exporter, and Bangladesh had developed its garment industry by capitalising on existing strengths.
“These countries did not try to do everything at once,” he said. “They started from what they could already do well and built upon it.”
Investment pitch from the BoI minister
Federal Minister for the Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh told the summit that investment was essential for generating employment, introducing modern technologies, enhancing productivity, expanding industrial capacity and increasing exports, and that Pakistan needed both domestic and foreign investment to build a more resilient economy.
He identified IT, agriculture and agro-processing, mining and minerals, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure and tourism as sectors offering substantial investment opportunities, and said the Board of Investment was committed to facilitating investors and removing unnecessary hurdles.
Referring to China’s three decades of double-digit growth, the minister said Pakistan could draw lessons on promoting investment and expanding productive capacity. He said the private sector was a central partner in the country’s economic transformation and regular engagement between policymakers and business was essential for effective policy.
Why the energy argument matters now
The adviser’s case for handing energy decisions to the private sector lands in a country still managing the aftershocks of its power-sector crisis. Saudi Arabia has assured support for Pakistan’s energy crisis, and the IMF has praised Pakistan’s handling of the oil crisis while pressing for faster gas-sector reform. On the supply side, OGDCL announced a new oil and gas discovery in Sindh earlier this year.
Muhammad Ali also serves as chairman of the Privatisation Commission, which recently moved Islamabad airport onto the privatisation list, a sign of how far the government’s sell-off programme is spreading.
FAQs
Who is Muhammad Ali?
The Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatisation, who also serves as chairman of the Privatisation Commission.
What is the TRUST framework?
His five-point approach: target sectors of proven strength, implement sustainable reforms, attract private capital, scale up exports and develop talent.
Which sectors did he prioritise?
Agriculture, textiles and IT and digital services, judged on strength, deliverability, global demand, employment at scale and foreign-exchange earnings.
