By Malcolm W. Browne Special to The New York Times
- Jan. 3, 1972
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Jan. 2—President Zulfikar All Bhutto today ordered the nationalization of major Pakistani Industries and moved to break up an “undue concentration of economic power.”
In a brief speech to the nation, President Bhutto listed 10 categories that had been selected for nationalization, They were iron and steel; basic metals; heavy engineering; heavy electrical equipment; motor vehicles; tractors; petrochemical industries; and three utilities—electricity, gas and oil refinery and cement.
The companies involved were said to be worth a total of about $200‐million.
In a separate decree today it was announced that any company worth more than 10 mill lion rupees ($2‐million) in which a single family owns more than 50 per cent of the shares would also be nationalized.
Both the President and his Finance Minister, Dr. Mubashir Hasan, said that no foreign investment would be affected.
No Further Moves Duo
Other than the 20 specific “industrial units” — or companies—listed to be taken over, they said, the Government plans no further nationalization moves.
“It’ is our firm intention,” President Bhutto said, “to have a happy blend of the public and private sectors.”
Despite the seemingly sweeping character of the nationalization moves, most corporate executives here viewed them as comparatively mild and unlikely to have much effect on the economy.
Pakistan does not have a large industrial base and most of the categories listed for nationalization involve industries already controlled by the Government.
Industries not taken over in eluded cotton textile manufacturing, the largest single industrial group in the country and its biggest earner of hard currency. Also untouched were foreign‐owned concerns such as the United States‐owned Esso Fertilizers and the British owned. Attock Petroleum Company Ltd., the only oil‐producing company ‘in the’ country.
The Pakistani economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for more than half the national. income and employs two‐thirds of the work force. Rice and wheat are the main food crops. Jute, cotton and tea are the money crops.
The decision to nationalize seemed mainly aimed at the two dozen or so ‘Pakistani families regarded is the financial elite of the nation.
The passports of members of 22 such families have been impounded and President Bhutto has demanded that holdings of foreign currency abroad be returned to Pakistan. He has threatened those who do not bring back their holdings with penalties, Including imprisonment
Two Men Anrested
Last night the Government announced it had placed two scions of these families? Ahmed Dawood and Fakhurddin Valia, under six‐month house arrest.
Pakistani business executives did not seem especially disturbed by the new measures. One businessman said:
“Some of the things being nationalized are just about bankrupt anyway and will be little more than a paper loss for anyone. As for the antimonopoly, fair trade and protection of labor provisions, such laws have been on the books here since at least 1969. My personal hope is that Mr. Bhutto intends to do something about enforcing .them this time.”
The Einince Minister, Dr. Hasan,said that in the case of the businesses being nationalized, the, Government was not actually taking over corporate shares but was merejy replacing management. Employes will be kept on, he said. The companies affected, he added, may later be handed over :to pro,yincial governments.
Dr. Hasan said there was no intention of nationalizing banks:
Leftists Seek Stronger Moves
The moderate nature of the nationalization announced to.day is, not expected to satisfy the powerful leftist wing of President Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s party. These leftists have demanded that Pakistan’s entire economy be recast along State‐ownership lines.
Mr. Bhutto is a member of a wealthy land‐owning family. He seems to have gone to great pains to convince his countrymen that he will not use his position to protect his economic status.
Mr. Bhutto took office as President and Martial‐law Administrator on ,Dec. 20. He replaced. Gen., Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan,‐ who was forced to resign largely as the result of Pakistan’s defeat by India.
Mr. Bhutto said he would serve without salary. Yesterday, he ordered that all top members of the Government, including himself, make public declarations of their financial wealth.
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