Equitisation is taken as a key task in restructuring State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and should be conducted in a synchronous manner in all areas.

The conclusion was reached at a conference held by the Government in Hanoi on February 18 under the chair of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh.

Presentations revealed that during the 2011-2013 period, 180 SOEs nationwide were restructured with 99 being equitised, raising the total number of privatised businesses to 4,065.

Thanks to drastic measures, Ministries of Transport, Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Construction have reaped good results in the work.

Most of the equitised enterprises have obtained remarkable growth, contributing to improving the economy’s competitiveness and promoting stock market restructuring.

Under the projects approved, a total of 432 SOEs will be equitised during the 2014-2015 period, a huge job in need of breakthrough measures.

Speaking at the conference, PM Dung laid stress on the need to add more enterprises to the post-2015 list in a bid to sharply cut the number of those run by the State.

Participants shared their viewpoints on withdrawing State capital in unnecessary fields.

Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)’s Board of Directors, suggested the maintenance of several State-run banks such as the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

With the aim of focusing resources on key sectors, State groups and corporations have so far withdrawn 4,164 trillion VND (195.7 billion USD) out of the 21,797 trillion VND invested in areas outside their core business.

Stressing the restructuring of SOEs as a key political task for 2014 and the following years, PM Dung proposed the perfection of relevant important documents.

Transport Minister Dinh La Thang described e quiti s ation as the inevitable way to renovate business administration and improve productivity.

He suggested other ministries and businesses base themselves on the reality and voice their difficulties in a timely manner while actively seeking strategic investors.

Over the past three years, the transport sector has recorded the highest number of enterprises equitised, reaching 44 out of the 99 nationwide.

Tran Xuan Hoa, Member Board Chairman of the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), also suggested restructuring be focused on raising productivity, a decisive factor.

Others proposed breakthrough policies in performing the task as, according to them, economic restructuring runs parallel to the renovation of the growth model and the restructuring of SOEs.

Locally, Hanoi plans to restructure 38 enterprises in the next two years along with enhancing its financial capacity to update technologies and improve productivity.-VNA