The equitisation of State-owned enterprises is moving at a snail's pace, with just 30 out of 127 firms having their plans approved. — Photo searchengineland.com

Only three state-owned enterprises got the nod from the State authority for their equitisation plan in May, lifting the total number of companies to have plans approved in the first five months of the year to 30, according to the Ministry of Finance.

This was a poor result given that a total of 127 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must be equitised by 2020 to meet the Government’s target.

The remaining 97 enterprises – 76 per cent of the total – must move quickly to have their equitisation plans approved by the end of next year.

SOEs divested capital with total face value of VND759 billion in the first five months of the year, collecting nearly VND1.66 trillion (US$71.2 million) for the State budget.

Since 2017 to end-May 2019, 87 SOEs have completed divestment with total value of VND4.55 trillion, fetching nearly VND8.7 trillion for the State.

The Prime Minister has asked ministries and branches to continue developing and issuing policies and regulations on equitisation, divestment and restructuring of SOEs to ensure the process is done openly and transparently in accordance with the law, following the market mechanism while guaranteeing the State's interests.

The Ministry of Finance has set key tasks in June to co-ordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to speed the process, focusing on supervision and handling financial issues.

In a press conference on May 31, Ho Sy Hung, vice chairman of the State Capital Management Committee, admitted equitisation is progressing slowly but said it is still possible to meet the deadline.

He explained that in 2018, the Government issued more stringent regulations on business valuations, including on reviewing and appraising land prices, thereby increasing the burden and workload for both enterprises and authorities.

Hung said regular progress reports would be made to the Steering Committee for Enterprise Innovation and Development and the Prime Minister. Any delays would be handled strictly, he said. — VNS