Only 11 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were equitised in the first nine months of this year (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Only 11 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were equitisedin the first nine months of this year, making the country’s target to completethe equitisation of at least 85 SOEs this year unlikely to reach, according toan official from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The 11 SOEs have a total asset of approximately 29.75 trillion VND(1.28 billion USD), of which the State owned over 15.4 trillion VND (662.4million USD), Dang Quyet Tien, Director General of the MoF’s Corporate FinanceDepartment, told a press conference in Hanoi on November 19.
The event was held by the MoF to update the media on the conference onrenovating and improving the efficiency of the SOE operation slated forNovember 21.
Under the initial plan, this year, HCMCity had to equitise 39 enterprises, while the figure for Hanoi was 11, but nota single firm from either city has been equitised yet, Tien noted.
The divestment process in the first ninemonths was also sluggish and might fail to meet their goals for the year, Tiensaid, citing the fact that under the plan, there were 135 SOEs that had toundergo the divestment process in 2017 and 181 in 2018 but the State haddivested capital from only 31 firms, 13 of which conducted the process in 2017and 18 did so in 2018.
The 9-month divestment raised nearly10.5 trillion VND (451.7 million USD), far behind the last year’s totalcollection of 138.3 trillion VND (5.95 billion USD) from divestment of SOEs,including leading brewery Sabeco and diary producer Vinamilk.
Tien attributed the delayof SOEs equitisation and State capital divestment to inadequate measures fromthe ministries, branches and localities involved in the process.
The hesitation of the firms’leaders and the lack of assertiveness are the cause, he said, adding that theeconomy’s capacity to absorb capital of businesses remains weak.
Equitisation anddivestment encountered many obstacles, notably the influence of interest groupsand difficulties in the search for consultants, enterprise evaluations andapproval of land use plans and complicated pre-equitised auditing processes ofbig corporations.
Authorities need tostrengthen inspection and supervision, as well as sanction leaders of delayingSOEs. It is also necessary to revise the list of SOEs awaiting equitisation anddivestment and urge them to follow the plan, said Nguyen Hong Long, deputy headof the Government’s Steering Committee for Enterprise Renovation and Development.
Ifenterprises registered to equitise in 2017 but fail to do in 2018, Long said,they should be transferred to the State Capital Investment Corporation, theGovernment agency that oversees most SOEs. —VNA
VNA
