Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed to acquire ships on lease to expand the fleet of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
A review meeting on the affairs of PNSC was held under the chairmanship of the prime minister, which was attended by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, and senior officials of PNSC.
During the briefing, the premier was informed about PNSC’s performance and was told that the corporation currently owns ten ships of various types, with a total cargo capacity of 724,643 tons.
On this occasion, PM Shehbaz Sharif directed the leasing of ships to increase the PNSC fleet.
He stated that due to the insufficient number of ships in the PNSC fleet, sea trade is costing the national exchequer $4 billion annually in precious foreign exchange.
He further instructed that a business plan of PNSC be presented within two weeks, which should include a strategy to eliminate the $4 billion annual burden on the national treasury.