Workers harvest tea buds (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) is determined to punish those whose lack ofresponsibility led to the prolonged equitisation of State-owned enterprises(SOEs), said MARD Deputy Minister Ha Cong Tuan.
He urged quicker equitisation of SOEs under theministry’s management at a meeting in Hanoi on February 14.
MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong saidequitisation is an opportunity for SOEs to revitalise but it also poses a lotof challenges.
Equitisation must be carried out in line with law and in a transparent fashionso as to prevent losses and protect the State’s interests, he noted, stressingin that process, the head of each agency and SOE must take the leading role.
Deputy Minister Tuan reported that from 2011 to2016, the ministry took strong actions to re-organise, reform and restructureits SOEs, reaping encouraging outcomes. The MARD has equitised 12 corporationsand companies directly subordinate to it and three science-technologybusinesses under the ministry’s institutes and universities.
It successfully auctioned the Hanoi AgriculturalProduce and Foodstuff Import-Export Co. Ltd and will finish handing over thecompany to the successful bidder in the first quarter of 2017.
It is also working to equitise the VietnamRubber Group, the Vietnam General of Agricultural Materials Corporation Ltd,and the Vietnam Southern Food Corporation, he added.
However, Tuan admitted that many small firmshave encountered difficulties in selling their stakes due to poor performanceand modest capital. For example, four subsidiaries of the Vietnam NationalCoffee Corporation (Vinacafe) failed to sell their stakes although they haveregistered for share offering for two or three times.
After being equitised, while some businesseshave operated in a more effective manner, others in which the State still holdsa big stake have yet to live up to expectations, he added.
Pham Quang Hien, Director of the MARD’sdepartment of enterprise management, said SOEs subject to equitisation shouldmove to attract investors, especially strategic ones with good capacity, toreduce the State ownership at those firms to a level that is low enough tochange their governance. It is also necessary to coordinate more closely withconsulting firms to precisely assess the value of the businesses to beequitised.
Leaders of SOEs or the representatives of Statecapital who do not seriously or effectively conduct equitisation must also bestrictly handled, he said.
In 2017, the MARD will assess the value ofVinacafe and the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation to prepare forequitisation.-VNA
VNA
