Cash transaction at a Vietcombank branch in Hanoi. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The total State capital invested in five sensitive sectors that need divesting in the last two months of 2015 have touched almost 16.2 trillion VND (723.2 million USD), says a Government report.
These five sectors include securities, investment funds, insurance, and real estate, apart from finance-banking, according to the latest report on the restructuring progress of State-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The divestment capital in the finance-banking sector is the highest, at over 9.1 trillion VND (406.8 million USD), followed by the real estate sector with nearly 6.1 trillion VND (272.3 million USD), insurance with 553 billion VND (24.7 million USD), and securities with 233 billion VND (10.4 million USD), in addition to investment funds at 215 billion VND (9.6 million USD).
The report showed that the Government invested nearly 4.26 trillion VND (190.2 million USD) in these five sectors in 2014. Meanwhile, the incremental investment value which was earned from receiving dividends as well as increases in charter capital of State-invested companies touched over 1.4 trillion VND (62.5 million USD) last year.
The report also updated the divestment capital value from the five sectors until October to 4.46 trillion VND (199.1 million USD), collecting over 4.1 trillion VND (183.6 million USD) for the State Budget.
From 2012 to October 2015, State-owned enterprises have divested nearly 9.87 trillion VND (440.6 million USD) from these five sectors, garnering for the State budget nearly 9.5 trillion VND (424 million USD). The incremental investment value from receiving dividends was 4.54 trillion VND (202.7 million USD) during the same period.
By the end of October, 175 SOEs have received equity, lifting the total number of restructured SOEs since 2011 to 471, out of the 531 planned for the 2011-2015 period.
Another 114 enterprises are projected to complete the equity process by the end of this year to meet the initial target of 289 set for the whole year, the report said.
To date, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has endorsed the restructuring plan of 20 State economic groups and corporations. The ministries and provincial People's Committees have also approved the equity schemes of 79 State corporations under their management.
However, some ministries and provinces witnessed snail-paced restructuring progress with no enterprises having received equity till the end of October, such as the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Ministry of Information and Communications or provinces of Nam Dinh, Tien Giang, and Binh Duong, in addition to Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak and Gia Lai.
According to the report, such slow progress was attributed to a complete lack of awareness among some business leaders of the importance of SOE restructuring for the country's economic and social development.
With respect to external impacts, the volatility of the domestic and international financial markets has also affected the divestment process or the sales of State investment.
In a resolution on the 2016 socio-economic development scheme, approved by the National Assembly, the Government has pledged to step up the restructuring process while improving efficiency of the restructured enterprises. It has also directed SOEs to continue selling government stakes in non-core businesses.-VNA
