Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Huehas requested fixing land use plans before equitisation, given that many State-ownedenterprises (SOEs) are focused on land value instead of investing in their coreareas.
Addressing a meeting of the Steering Committee on EnterpriseRenovation and Development in Hanoi on July 25, Deputy PM Hue, who is also headof the committee, said the progress of equitisation and divestment remains slowdue to prolonged price evaluation and stricter regulations.
He asked the Government Office and the committee to completereports on the effort to submit to the PM, permanent members of the Secretariat,and the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration between now andthe year’s end.
Ministries, agencies, corporations, and localities wererequired to closely abide by the conclusions made by the PM and head of thecommittee at Notice No.72; the refined legal framework as guided at the DecreeNo.126/2017/ND-CP on turning SOEs into joint stock companies; and Decree No.32/2018/ND-CPon amendments to Decree No.91.2015/ND-CP on pouring State capital intoenterprises.
The Government Office was assigned to work with the steeringcommittee to review adjustments in equitisation and divestment plans asconcluded by the PM, ministries, agencies, and localities. Difficulties andrecommendations during the process must be reported to the government,ministries, and agencies in preparation for a national conference between thePM and businesses in the near future.
It is impossible to sacrifice quality in order to progressand conduct equitisation at any costs, he said, adding that what matters is theefficiency, corporate governance, and benefits gained after equitisation.
In the first half of this year, 19 SOEs had theirequitisation plans approved with a total chartered capital of more than 22trillion VND (960 million USD). Over 22.45 trillion VND was collected in 16initial public offerings and stakes sales for strategic shareholders, reportedthe committee.
According to approved equitisation plans, the 16 firms had achartered capital upwards of 136.2 trillion VND, including the PetroVietnamPower Corporation, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, VietnamRubber Group, and Vietnam Southern Food Corporation.
Revenue from divestment by 42 SOEs hit 5.598 trillion VND duringthe period, raising the total income from equitisation and divestment toroughly 198,000 trillion VND since 2016. Up to 115 trillion VND was sent to theState budget, equal to nearly half of five-year public finance plan.
The PM has approved plans to reshuffle agro-forestrycompanies by ministries, agencies, and localities. As many as 160 out of 249units have completed reshuffle procedures.
After one year spent fixing the shortcomings of 12 delayedand inefficient projects under the watch of the Ministry of Industry and Trade,two of them have bounced back to earn profits, four others have cut losses and becomestable. Amongst the three projects which were forced to shut down, one has beenable to resume its operations.
Such projects have contributed to generating thousands ofjobs and socio-political stability, laying the foundation to thoroughly dealingwith the remaining projects, towards addressing all 12 projects by 2020.
In accordance with the Prime Minister’s DecisionNo.1232/QD-TTg, up to 62 SOEs will be handed over to the State CapitalInvestment Corporation (SCIC) between 2017 and 2020. Last year, 24 of them weretransferred to the SCIC with a total capital of 821.14 billion VND while threeothers came under its helm in the first half of the year.
From January to June, there were 64,531 newly-establishedfirms nationwide, up 5.3 percent annually. Their total registered capitalamounted to more than 648.9 billion VND, up 8.9 percent year on year.-VNA
SOE equitisation needs faster pace
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has urged some State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to hasten their equitisation and divestment plans, as progress remains slow and might fail to meet their deadlines this year.