Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a project on restructuring State-owned enterprises (SOEs) for the 2011-2015 period with the focus on economic groups and corporations.

The project is designed to establish more rational structure for SOEs, with priority given to key sectors that supply essential public services and serve national defence and security.

The restructuring also aims to raise the competitive edge and profitability for these enterprises.

Under the project, enterprises wholly owned by the State will be divided into three groups.

Group 1 includes SOEs in which the State owns 100 percent of charter capital and which operate in the fields of State monopoly, national defence and security; publishing; irrigation; transport safety; lottery; large-scaled electricity generation and distribution of special significance to socio-economic development, national defence and security; management and exploitation of national and urban railway infrastructure; airports; first-grade seaports; and money printing.

Group 2 comprises equitised enterprises in which the State holds over 50 percent of charter capital and which operate in areas defined in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 14/2011/QD-TTg dated March 4, 2011 on the criteria and classification of SOEs.

SOEs which suffer from prolonged losses and are unable to recover, thus to be sold, transferred, restructured into joint stock companies and multi-member limited companies, or to be dissolved or declared bankrupt, will be put into Group 3.

The restructuring will be conducted in a comprehensive manner, from the enterprises’ organisational model, management, human resources, development strategies and investments to their markets and products.

The arrangement and equitisation of SOEs will be a central task during the 2012-2015 period.-VNA