VGP – Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has called for faster equtization of State-owned enterprises as figures show that the process only met 27.5% of the preset goal in the 2016-2020 period. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue addresses a meeting to seek ways
to beef up SOEs equitization process in Ha Noi on July 8, 2019. Photo: VGP

Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue made call while chairing a meeting on SOEs equitization in Ha Noi on Monday.

The event drew the attendance of leaders of ministries, agencies, localities and SOEs. 

The Government set goal to equitize 127 State-owned enterprises in 2019 but only 35 of the enterprises have been equitized in the first half, Hue pointed out.

He also said divestment of state capital still remains slow compared to the Government’s set goal for 2016-2020, accounting for just 21.8% of the overall plan.

Slow equitization process has taken time due to the introduction of stricter regulations, including requirement of auditing project in which the State invests VND 1,700 billion and above.

On the other hand, some of business leaders have tried to pass the buck or elude their responsibility for handling equitization, Deputy PM Hue pointed out.

For the second half, Hue tasked ministries and agencies to continue improving legal documents on equitization and divestment, especially Decrees No. 126/2017/ND-CP, No. 167/2017/ND-CP, No. 32/2018/ND-CP in order to accelerate the equtization and divestment progress./

According to Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Enterprise Innovation and Development Nguyen Hong Long, in the first half of 2019, five SOEs conducted initial public offerings (IPOs) to help the State divest VND 562.707 billion. 

Since 2016, 162 SOEs have been equitized compared to the set goal of more than 4,400 SOEs for 2016-2020.

Regarding divestment, the Government has pulled out capital from 30 SOEs with total volume of over VND 2.7 trillion in the first six months this year, sending the total divested capital to more than VND 4.8 trillion.

Also in Jan-June period, the number of newly-established enterprises increased to a record high of nearly 67,000, up 3.8% in number and up 32.5% in value compared to the same period last year.