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| Passengers get off a Vietnam Airlines plane at Phu Quoc Airport in Kien Giang Province. The equitisation of the national carrier is expected to be completed this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu |
HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The Ministry of Transport is determined to speed up the equitisation of the national carrier Vietnam Airlines.
The ministry has said that the equitisation process would be completed this year, after it missed the deadline last year.
The process also received a push from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
At the ministry's conference on Thursday, Dung ordered the speeding up of equitisation of State-owned companies under the ministry.
Last year, the PM had approved the restructuring of the Vietnam Airlines, Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), Viet Nam Railways and Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) for the 2012-15 period.
The ministry, however, explained that the restructuring of some corporations are falling behind schedule as they are encountering a lot of difficulties during the implementation.
At the beginning of 2013, the authorities had aimed to complete the equitisation of Vietnam Airlines by the end of the year. However, the process missed the deadline.
In response, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said that the restructuring of State corporations under the ministry would be basically completed in 2014. Vietnam Airlines is among 11 companies that will be equitised this year as a step towards their listing on stock exchanges to ensure transparency.
The Prime Minister has also approved the equitisation projects of three other subsidiaries under the Transport Ministry including Viet Nam Waterway Construction Corporation (Vinawaco), Thang Long Construction Corporation (TLG) and Transport Engineering Design Inc (Tedi).
Accordingly, the three corporations will sell more than 17 million shares to their strategic partners.
Vinawaco and TLG, both with a charter capital of VND300 billion (US$14.28 million) each, were allowed to sell part of the State's holdings and issue additional shares to increase their charter capitals, but Tedi was not allowed to issue additional shares. Tedi had a charter capital of VND125 billion ($5.9 million).
The Ministry of Transport, which represents the State ownership in the three corporations, will decide the initial share prices. — VNS