Roosevelt Hotel may be declared cultural heritage.

ISLAMABAD -- As efforts are accelerated to sell Roosevelt Hotel, Pakistan has expressed hope that New York authorities will declare the hotel as a cultural heritage after completion of 100 years since its construction.

The matter was highlighted in a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP).

The caretaker government has directed the cabinet body to expedite the process of hiring financial advisers for the sale of Roosevelt Hotel, as approved by the CCOP.

It was informed during the CCOP meeting that on August 22, 2023 the committee gave the directive to initiate the process of hiring financial advisers to lease the Roosevelt site. Earlier, the Request for Proposal was approved in March 2023 while in May 2023, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved Aviation Division's summary to lease Roosevelt Hotel to NY City Health and Hospitals.

The Aviation Division also communicated that the Privatisation Commission (PC) may continue to press ahead with the hiring of advisers. In August, 2023, the CCOP directed the officials concerned to initiate the hiring process and publish advertisements in the leading New York and national newspapers.

A few days later, the cabinet ratified CCOP's decision, noting that advertisements would be published shortly.

The committee was apprised of the developments pertaining to chances of the hotel being declared a cultural heritage by New York authorities following completion of 100 years since its construction in 1924.

In the huddle, the Ministry of Privatisation secretary briefed the cabinet body about the country's privatisation programme...