The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the representative of state-owned capital at state-owned enterprises, expects by the end of this year to sell capital at 90 state-owned enterprises, the corporation said.

The 90 enterprises are small and medium-sized companies with capital of no more than several billions of Vietnamese dong each.

The plan to sell the state-owned capital for the remainder of the year, is expected to be carried out successfully as the global economy recovers. This year, the corporation has targeted to sell capital at 170 state-owned enterprises.

However, a representative from one of 15 securities companies that trade in stake divestment, said the SCIC should ensure more diversity and flexibility in selling capital, especially after the experiences gained in divestment in previous years.

At present, the SCIC sells state-owned capital under public auctions and securities companies act as consultants and trading agencies at the auctions.

To have effective auctions, the corporation has been urged to improve production and business at enterprises to ensure the quality of securities before they are sold at auction. The timing of auctions is also crucial.

In coming years, the selling of state-owned capital would be one of the major tasks of the corporation as state-owned capital at state-owned enterprises is reduced in industries that do not need a great deal of State control.

The State plans to focus capital spending on key economic industries, said SCIC deputy director Hoang Nguyen Hoc.

The corporation's target is to hold state-owned capital at only 100 state-owned enterprises by 2012.

So far this year, the corporation has sold capital at 81 state-owned enterprises.

Last year, the corporation sold state-owned capital at 238 enterprises, a record high against previous years. It gained the good result because the state created favourable conditions for the sales./.