A total of 432 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be equitised during the 2014-2015 period, which is seen as a huge job in need of breakthrough measures.

The figure was released at a conference on restructuring SOEs held by the Government in Hanoi on February 18 . Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh co-chaired the event.

By 2015, State groups and corporations will withdraw nearly 22 trillion VND (roughly 1 billion USD) invested in fields outside their core business, the conference heard.

Participants at the event underlined the need to soon issue regulations on the management and inspection of State groups and corporations along with supervising the implementation of strategies and plans.

Criteria to classify 949 wholly foreign-invested enterprises which are operating in Vietnam should also be adopted, they said.

It is necessary for SOEs to apply modern business administration standards and accelerate the application of scientific and technological advances in order to cut costs and improve productivity.

Reports presented at the conference revealed that during the 2011-2013 period, 180 SOEs nationwide were rearranged with 99 equitised, raising the total number of privatised businesses to 4,065.

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

They have also affirmed the role of SOEs in the socialist-orientated market economy.

Between 2011 and 2013, State capital poured into the enterprises has climbed from 700 trillion VND (32.9 billion USD) in 2010 to 810 trillion VND (38.07 billion USD) in 2011 and 1,019 trillion VND (47.9 billion USD) in 2012.-VNA