Securiport offers to install airport security systems; Senate flags transparency issues
ISLAMABAD:
President Donald Trump’s administration has backed a $2.4 billion investment offer by an American firm to install advanced security systems at major Pakistani airports to detect criminals and transnational threats.
Natalie A Baker, the US Charge d’Affaires to Pakistan, has recently supported an investment proposal by Securiport, an American firm, to install Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) capability systems, official documents showed. She has urged the Pakistani authorities to consider the proposal.
The proposed solution guarantees data transport from airline to the government while allowing Pakistan to retain full ownership and custody of all the data, with 24/7 support and training, the documents showed.
If Pakistan accepts the US offer, it may also help fast?track the installation of these systems. A separate move by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) to install such systems has recently become controversial due to transparency concerns raised by the Senate Standing Committee on Defence.
Securiport has proposed funding all upfront investment related to the deployment of its system and offered to recover its costs over the contract term via a government?mandated passenger security surcharge model. The company has offered to invest $2.4 billion over the proposed 25?year life of the contract. It would also establish a subsidiary in Pakistan through which it will train over 1,000 Pakistani citizens in these modern technologies, according to the proposal.
Baker extended the “support” of the US government for the Securiport investment proposal in a communication with the Ministry of Defence, which is the administrative division of the PAA.
“We appreciate your consideration of Securiport’s proposal and continued partnership with the United States in advancing Pakistan’s security and our efforts to achieve safe, secure and efficient travel,” Baker wrote in a correspondence with the Pakistani authorities.
According to the offer, the API and PNR systems would be operated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which would provide the government with an integrated biometric?enabled border management plan.
In her support letter, Baker wrote that Securiport has more than two decades of experience in numerous countries and adheres to a stringent compliance framework.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the US embassy in Islamabad said, “We do not comment on private diplomatic correspondence. We would direct you to the Pakistani government.” The Minister for Defence also did not comment on whether Pakistan plans to accept the US offer for investment.
Securiport provides border security, biometric technology and threat assessment solutions to governments globally. The firm’s installed system has the ability to “detect and interdict criminal and transnational threats in real?time at the border,” Baker wrote. She added that the proposed solution guarantees data transport from airline to the government while allowing Pakistan to retain full ownership and custody of all the data with 24/7 support and training.
The proposal is in line with Pakistan’s efforts to install an automated border control system known as E?gates. However, those efforts have recently become controversial due to the decision to award the contract to a state?owned enterprise by invoking the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) direct contracting rules. The IMF has already asked Pakistan to withdraw PPRA rules that allow direct contracting to state?owned enterprises as part of its conditions under the Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report.
In 2020, the PAA initiated a global competitive request for proposals for the deployment of E?gates, API and PNR systems. In 2024, a fresh expression of interest (EOI) was issued to invite experienced international firms. But subsequently, both EOIs were ignored.
In January this year, the Senate Standing Committee on Defence took a briefing from the airports authority on the automated project. The committee was informed that under the proposed system, E?gates equipped with biometric passport scanners and facial recognition technology are planned to be deployed, which are expected to reduce average immigration clearance time from three to five minutes to under 45 seconds per passenger.
The committee was further apprised that these E?gates would be integrated with the FIA’s exit control list, passenger name record systems and Interpol databases to enable real?time identification of high?risk travellers.
However, the chairman of the Senate standing committee on Defence raised concerns regarding reports that the bidding process for the procurement of E?gates was not carried out in accordance with the relevant PPRA rules. The committee directed the Ministry of Defence to furnish all relevant procurement records and documentation to enable a thorough examination of the matter and to ascertain whether any procedural irregularities or violations had occurred.
This week, Transparency International Pakistan approached the Prime Minister’s Office over alleged serious violations of the PPRA Rules 2004 in the award of the E?gate project by the PAA, according to an article published in the Business Recorder.
