"We are hopeful to hand over the enterprises to private owners within the next four months," Abu Solaiman Chowdhury, chairman of Privatisation Commission, told reporters after a meeting of the Advisers' Committee on Economic Affairs.

The government will go for open tenders after assessing the assets and liabilities of the enterprises, added Chowdhury.

The textiles and jute ministry-run concerns that face privatisation are Rangamati Textile Mills, Chittaranjan Cotton Mills in Narayanganj, Tangail Cotton Mills, Magura Textile Mills, Monwar Jute Mills in Narayanganj, Doulatpur Jute Mills in Khulna, Qaumi Jute Mills in Sirajganj, Services and Facilities Centre in Brahmanbaria, Handloom Service Centre in Narsingdi, Textile Facilities Centre in Noakhali, Rajshahi Silk Factory and Thakurgaon Silk Factory.

The industries ministry-run remaining five SoEs earmarked for sell-off are Dhaka Leather Company, North Bengal Paper Mills in Pabna, Chittagong Chemical Complex, Karnaphuli Rayon and Chemical Ltd in Rangamati and Bangladesh Can Company Ltd in Chittagong.

The Privatisation Commission also placed a proposal for privatisation of another 31 SoEs, but the meeting delayed the approval.

"We will take decision on the 31 enterprises after discussion with ministries concerned," Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam, who presided over the meeting, told the reporters.

The Privatisation Commission has so far privatised 69 SoEs, 49 of them have been sold. The shares in 20 firms have been offloaded.

The Advisers' Committee on Economic Affairs also approved a proposal of the food ministry for procuring 50 lakh pieces of jute bags from the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) without performance guarantee. As per the Public Procurement Regulations (PPR), it is mandatory to take performance guarantee from suppliers.

The meeting also approved another proposal to set up a joint venture liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottling plant with Saudi Arabia.

The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will set up the LPG bottling plant near Mongla port in Bangladesh in partnership with Saudi-based Bakri Group's subsidiary Peninsula LPG Inc.

The BPC and Peninsula LPG Inc will form a joint venture company, 'Bangla-Saudi Hydrocarbon Company', to install the plant. The BPC will give the required land as equity in the investment.

The joint venture plant will bottle about 40,000 tonnes of imported LPG a year, which will help the country meet its domestic demand for LPG to a large extent.

RUPALI BANK HANDOVER SOON

Another report adds: The handover of state-run Rupali Bank to its Saudi buyer may take place within a short time as the Saudi prince, the buyer, is likely to visit Bangladesh soon.

"We have heard that the Saudi prince plans to visit Bangladesh soon," said M Abu Solaiman Chowdhury, chairman of Privatisation Commission, after a meeting of the Advisers' Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday.

Chowdhury said there is no complexity to hand over the ownership of Rupali Bank to the Saudi prince. The government in this regard has already completed all formalities, he added.

When asked to comment on media reports that Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saudi is not interested to buy the bank now, Chowdhury said it is not true. "So far we have regular communications with them," he said.

The government decided to privatise the state-run bank as part of the financial reform and banking sector modernisation. The Privatisation Commission invited bids from seven selected organisations listed through a scrutiny.

On August 27 last year, the commission declared the Saudi prince the highest bidder. On October 5, 2006, the then prime minister Khaleda Zia okayed the bid of US$330 million to buy 67.26 percent stake in Rupali Bank. The present government last month approved a proposal to sell its remaining 26 percent shares in Rupali Bank to the Saudi prince for $128 million.