State-owned construction companies equitised at slow pace hinh anh 1The MoC says the evaluation and building of equitisation plans for three major SOEs cannot be finished until Q3 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Construction (MoC) is grappling with equitising its State-owned enterprises (SOEs) as the equitisation plan for 2015 has had its implementation deadline extended to Q2, and now Q3 of this year.

In its latest report, the MoC said the evaluation and building of equitisation plans for three major SOEs (the Song Da Corporation, the Vietnam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation – IDICO, and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation – HUD) cannot be finished until Q3.

It blamed the sluggish progress on the firms’ large size and scope of activities, leading to difficulties in the settlement of their debt, financial and land use problems.

The ministry said it will push ahead with SOE restructuring and equitisation, launching IPOs, and holding the first stakeholders’ congresses for companies whose equitisation plans have been approved, including the Construction Corporation No.1, the Building Materials Corporation No. 1, the Construction Machinery Corporation, and the Vietnam National Construction Consultants Corporation.

It is also urging its corporations to speed up the divestment of State capital and the building of SOE reorganisation plans by 2020, the MoC added.

Official data released earlier this year showed that companies wholly owned by the State or in which it has a major stake have a combined asset value of about 5 quadrillion VND, or 222.2 billion USD. These companies are currently administered by ministries and sectors.

The Ministry of Finance said the SOE restructuring should be accelerated to make sure the enterprises will operate in a more efficient manner.-VNA
VNA