The Government will reconsider the leadership responsibilities of officials who are yet to fulfill State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) privatisation and divestment, said Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, Head of the Government Steering Committee on Corporate Renovation and Development.

Hue chaired a meeting in Ha Noi on Tuesday to review SOE restructuring in the first half of 2017 and to launch tasks for the remaining months this year.

He hailed ministries, agencies and localities for improving openness and transparency as well as building mechanisms and policies in their efforts. However, he also admitted that SOEs privatisation continued to meet difficulties regarding land pricing and the responsibilities of State asset managers.

The equitisation targets in the first six months of the year have not reached set schedule targets, thus putting pressure on the year-end months.

Nearly 580 SOEs have not registered for listing in the stock market, while operating effectiveness of the firms has not been proportional to their resources. Some groups and corporations reported losses and a lack of international standards in management mechanism.

He emphasised that the main cause was that localities and SOEs had not employed drastic privatisation and divestment measures.

“Localities and SOEs are required to meet the privatisation and divestment targets in 2017, even reaching higher number of enterprises which would be equitised and increase contribution to the State budget,” he added.

The Deputy PM asked concerned ministries and agencies to amend and supplement Decree 59/2011/ND-CP on converting SOEs into publicly traded companies. In July, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) was assigned to make a list of SOEs that will divest in the 2017-20 period.

The MPI and Finance Ministry must also amend and supplement Decree 91/2015/ND-CP on pouring State investment into businesses and the use and management of corporate assets and capital. It will also co-operate with the MoF and the Ministry of Justice to submit an asset transfer report to the PM before July 15.

The Government Office would have plan to promulgate relevant decrees on charter capital of SOEs. Groups and corporations that haven’t published restructure plans in 2016-20 period would have the deadline this month to submit to the PM for approval.

He asked the MoF to evaluate the assets of equitised SOEs that aren’t traded on the stock market. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) was required to accelerate the resolution of 12 plants and projects reporting losses.

Deputy Chairman of the Government Office and deputy head of the steering committee Le Manh Ha said six out of 137 SOEs have so far completed privatisation for the 2017-20 period. The Government has evaluated the value of 20 SOEs.

Saigon Alcohol Beer and Beverages Corporation (Sabeco) continues to select consultancy for its State divestment, while Ha Noi Alcohol Beer and Beverages Corporation (Habeco) has seen difficulties in negotiating co-operation agreements with Carlsberg Breweries A/S.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) submitted two plans to the Government to continue to selling State capital at Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company.

The country would have to complete privatisation of 45 SOEs of the total. As of the second quarter, 22 SOEs sold State capital worth more than VND11.58 trillion (US$503.8 million), or 314.11 per cent from the same period last year.

Up to 11 out of 12 SOEs have been listed. The MoF reported that 730 firms under 84 corporations, 17 ministries and 53 localities are yet to apply for listing or list on the stock exchange.

Deputy Minister of MoIT, Do Thang Hai said the ministry’s major businesses were devising equitisation plans to submit to the PM for approval.

Hai suggested that the Government encourage skilled workers to buy preferential shares.

Slow privatisation in HCM City

The steering committee said that the SOEs privatisation progress in HCM City had been slow in the first half of the year. The hand-over of privatised enterprises to SCIC was also slow, while the registration to list in the stock market had not been strictly implemented.

Not a single firm had equitised out of the city’s list of 29 SOEs that should be equitised by 2020.

Vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem said most of the SOEs completed asset inventory and criteria for choosing strategic investors.

Liem said the city should be careful in equitisation and divestment of state assets, as the market would find it hard to consume a massive amount of assets.

Nguyen Doan Toan, vice chairman of Ha Noi People’s Committee, said the capital would complete equitisation of Hapro with State capital value of VND 2.2 trillion. Some others would implement their equitisation in 2018. — VNS