Construction ministry to finish equitising 16 big SOEs by 2020

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Construction (MoC) plans to finish equitising 16 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) under its management by 2020.

The information was released by MoC Minister Pham Hong Ha at a working session in Hanoi on February 6 with relevant agencies on the re-organisation of SOEs and companies with State capital managed by the MoC.

The firms include Development Investment Construction JSC (DIC), Song Hong Corporation, Bach Dang Construction Corporation, VIGLACERA Corporation, Vietnam Water and Environment Investment Corporation (VIWASEEN), Hanoi Construction Corporation, LICOGI Corporation, LILAMA Corporation, Construction Corporation No.1 (CC1), FiCO Corporation, Vietnam Construction Consultant Corporation (VNCC), Construction Machinery Corporation (COMA), Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD), Song Da Corporation, Vietnam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation (IDICO), and Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM).

Twelve of the companies have begun the equitisation process while four others (Song Da, IDICO, HUD and VICEM) were recently added to the list of SOEs subject to re-organisation between 2016 and 2020.

Minister Ha said these enterprises own a huge amount of assets while employing hundreds of thousands of workers.

The ministry proposed the rate of State capital at LICOGI be unchanged and the State-owned stake in the company be transferred to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) in the first quarter of 2017.

For LILAMA, VICEM, Song Da, VIGLACERA and HUD which are either holding a large amount of assets or are building key national projects, the rate of State capital will be reduced to 51 percent to ensure the State’s controlling stake there through 2020. The State stake in those five will be further reduced in the following years.

In the remaining ten corporations and joint stocks companies, the State-owned stake will be reduced to 36 percent which will be transferred to the SCIC or designated agencies to manage in 2018 and 2019.

Ha said the ministry will continue to instruct the divestment of State capital from affiliates and associated companies of its corporations in the next four years.

At the session, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, head of the Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development, asked the MoC to complete a roadmap for divesting and transferring the right to represent State ownership at SOEs to fully protect the State’s interests.

He also instructed the MoC to bring the State stake in LILAMA, VICEM, Song Da, VIGLACERA and HUD to below 51 percent by 2019 by the latest, while the sale of all State capital in the other 10 corporations and joint stock companies should be completed in 2018.

Hue also requested the ministry accelerate the listing of equitised businesses in the stock market.-VNA