Ministries and sectors have been asked to complete legal documents relating to equitisation and divestment of SOEs. — Photo chinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Ministries and sectors by the end of the year need to complete legal documents promptly clear obstacles that are hindering the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ said at a meeting of the Steering Committee for Innovation and Development of Businesses held in Hà Nội on July 8.

During the meeting to review equitisation, divestment and restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and corporate development in the first half and tasks for the remaining months of this year, Deputy PM Huệ, who is also the head of the steering committee, said the Ministry of Finance (MoF) should review decrees relating to equitisation of SOEs and public assets at equitised enterprises such as Decree 126/2017/ NĐ-CP, Decree 167/2017/NĐ-CP and Decree 32/2018/NĐ-CP.

It would review the plan on SOEs, especially economic groups and corporations in the period 2016-20 to propose solutions on implementation of the plan by year-end and next year, he said. The ministry must have a report on the review and the solutions this month to submit to the Government.

The MoF will work with the Government Office to issue a decree replacing Decision 22/2015/QĐ-TTg on conversion from non-business units into joint stock companies, he said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was asked to review regulations on the approval of State land use plans by equitised SOEs, and issue a circular guiding the implementation of Decree 126/2017/NĐ-CP on conversion from SOEs and one-member limited liability companies with 100 per cent charter capital invested by SOEs into joint-stock companies.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment must work with relevant ministries and agencies to hold a conference discussing the guiding role of major SOEs and groups in connectivity and renovation. 

Also at the meeting, Huệ asked the MoF and the State Bank of Việt Nam to review the situation and submit a corporate bond issuance plan to the Government for consideration, which must detail quota, criteria and credit rankings for the process. 

The Deputy PM said the issuance of corporate bonds in Việt Nam is still developing while the nation needs more capital for the economy from other sources to reduce capital mobilisation from banks.

He requested ensuring transparency and safety for the issuance of corporate bonds.

The committee reported that in the first half of this year, it collected over VNĐ5.5 trillion (US$240 million) in revenue from SOEs equitisation and divestment.

Since 2016, as many as 162 SOEs have been equitised with a total value of over VNĐ205 trillion, or 108 per cent recorded during 2011-15. Revenue from initial public offerings topped VNĐ24.8 trillion. 

As of June, 796 SOEs were yet to register for listing on the stock market. 

Since early this year, there have been more than 66,900 newly-established companies with total registered capital of over VNĐ860 trillion. Over 21,600 others have resumed operations while more than 7,800 shut down, and more than 21,800 temporarily waited for dissolution. 

As of June, there were 737,000 firms operating nationwide. 

However, the progress of SOEs equitisation and divestment remains slow due to the lack of drastic directions by ministries, agencies and localities, delay in calculation of corporate value and land use approval.

Representatives from several groups and corporations said they meet difficulties in trademark pricing, and issues regarding intellectual property right, cultural and historical values when it comes to calculating starting price upon divestment. — VNS