Employee distributing mail at the central post office under the Vietnam Post Corporation (VNPost) in Hanoi.(Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Ministries have approved the restructuring plans of additionalstate-owned enterprises (SOEs), with the latest including the Vietnam MobileTelecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company (Mobifone) and theVietnam Post Corporation (VNPost), in line with the Government’s SOErestructuring action plan.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)concluded that Mobifone would be fully equitised in 2018, while VNPost wouldnot be listed in the foreseeable future.
Other SOEs including the Vietnam Posts and TelecommunicationsGroup (VNPT) and the Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC) are in line tocomplete equitisation by 2019.
For the first 10 months of 2017, the Prime Minister hadapproved the restructuring plans of the Vietnam Electricity Group and a numberof enterprises under the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group in need of restructuring,equitising and liquidating for the period from 2017 to 2020.
The Ministry of Transport also announced their approval ofthe plan to restructure for the Southern Vietnam Maritime Safety Corporationand the Northern Maritime Safety Assurance Corporation before 2020.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), SOEs are activelypromoting their equitization process, as they have received reports of fourunits approved by the competent authorities for equitisation in October 2017alone.
In the first 10 months of 2017, there have been 38enterprises approved for equitisation, at a total actual value of 81 trillionVND (3.6 billion USD), of which the actual value of State capital in theseenterprises is 20.9 trillion VND (930 million USD).
Under the equitisation plan approved by competentauthorities, the State intends to retain 12.6 trillion VND (560 million USD),leaving strategic investors 7.9 trillion VND (351.5 million USD), privateshareholders 220 billion VND (9.8 million USD) and the rest for open auction inthese 38 enterprises.
By 2020, SOEs’ restructuring and renewal will be completed onthe basis of Decision No 58/2016/QD-TTg signed by the Prime Minister,indicating 137 SOEs to be equitised, along with the decided amount of Statecapital withdrawal from these enterprises.
The State still holds 81 percent of total shares across allSOEs, leaving the level of private investors’ involvement at only 9.5 percent,as compared to the desired 16.7 percent, with strategic investors’participation at an even lower level of 7.3 percent, not even half thedesignated level of 15.8 percent, according to reports from the StateSecurities Commission.
The Government’s action plan for further restructuring,renovation and enhancement of SOEs effectiveness sets out to improve SOEsperformance on the basis of modern technology, innovative capacity, governancein accordance with international standards, and to mobilize, allocate andeffectively use social resources, preserve and develop State capital so thatSOEs can maintain their key positions as an important driving force of theeconomy, contributing to the development of Vietnam’s socio-economic progress.
Reports from the Central Institute for Economic Management(CIEM) shows that the burden of national debts, accumulated through Statefirms’ outstanding loans, would continue to slow growth, necessitating theurgent restructuring of SOEs.
The MoF has also asked the Government and responsibledepartments and localities to consider disciplinary action against theleadership of companies that are dragging their feet on completing listingprocedures, under Circular 36/2017/TT-BTC.
The disciplinary actions would range from demotions,transfers, salary cuts to more serious criminal charges. The threat of severeaction has prompted several companies to hasten their listing procedures.Officials expect a spate of companies being listed in the second half of theyear.-VNA
VNA
