SOEs restructuring, taxation reform on the table

The Public Finance Partnership Group (PFPG) convened a high-level dialogue in Hanoi on July 23, focusing on its 2015-2016 activities to improve the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and reforms of taxation and customs procedures.
The Public Finance Partnership Group (PFPG) convened a high-leveldialogue in Hanoi on July 23, focusing on its 2015-2016 activities toimprove the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and reformsof taxation and customs procedures.

Amid theongoing economic restructuring push in tandem with shifts to new growthmodels, the dialogue enables Vietnamese agencies and foreign experts tolearn about each other’s position on financial management, SOEsrestructuring and improvement of taxation and customs formalities,Deputy Finance Minister Truong Chi Trung said at the event.

Dang Quyet Tien, Deputy Head of the Finance Ministry’s CorporateFinance Department, said 61 out of the targeted 289 enterprises havebeen equitised, adding that there is still much to be done to equitisethe remaining.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s chief economist Aaron Batten said the restructuring covers mostly small-scale SOEs.

According to the economis, most of the equitised firms have failed topublicise their financial reports, making it difficult to gauge theirperformance. Only 8 percent of SOEs have released financial statementson their websites, he said.

A representative fromthe Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said equitisation isonly the first step towards SOEs restructuring, adding that improvingcorporate governance following equitisation is a more essential step.

Tien revealed that the government has a plan to sellcapital in bulk, meaning that investors with sound financial andgovernance capability and long-term commitments could consider theoffer.

The government is also considering sellingall of its capital in non-core areas to investors, he said, adding thatrelevant authorities will announce regulations enforcing the release ofcorporate information to the public.

Nguyen MinhDuc, Senior Economist from the World Bank (WB) Office in Vietnam, saidtaxation overhaul should rely on regulations and taxation management andthat tax filing and inspection should conform to internationalpractices.

The dialogue was co-hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the WB.-VNA

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