Vietnam to Retain Full State Ownership in SOEs in 11 Sectors

The Vietnamese government has released a list of state-run companies where it will retain full control and those where it will cut holdings in a move to speed up the privatization process.


                Vietnam will retail full control of PetroVietnam - parent firm. Photo: Internet

The Vietnamese government has released a portfolio of state-run enterprises where it will keep whole ownership and those in which it will reduce stakes in the 2016-2020 period in a move to boost participation of investors in the privatization process.

According to a prime ministerial decision, the government will retain full ownership in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in 11 sectors that are vital to the country's political, economic and military policies.

The 11 sectors include military mapping and measurement, industrial explosive material production and trading, management of national power grid, nuclear power, management of national railway and urban railway infrastructure, aviation control, maritime security, posts, lottery and money printing, among others.

The 103 SOEs in which the state will hold 100% stake include 64 provincial lottery companies, National Power Transmission Corp, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) – parent firm, publishing houses, PetroVietnam – parent firm and Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corp.

Notably, the state will totally control Deposit Insurance of Vietnam, the Vietnam Development Bank, Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Vietnam Construction Bank, OceanBank and GP.Bank. The last three banks the State Bank of Vietnam acquired at zero cost in 2014. 

The lists also include other 137 that will be equitized in the 2016-2020 period. Among them, the state will hold a stake of over 65% in four, 50-65% in 27, and below 50% in 106.

Accordingly, the state will hold a stake of over 65% in Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Development (Agribank), PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp (PVEP) and Vinacomin – parent firm.

                          MobiFone is slated to go public this year. Photo: Internet

The government will hold a stake of between 50% and 65% in MobiFone Telecommunications Corp, the second largest mobile network operator in the country after military-run Viettel.

In addition, the state holding will be cut to below 50% in a large number of sizable firms such as Saigon Trading Corp (Satra), Benthanh Group, PV Oil, PV Power, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR) – the operator of the Dung Quat oil refinery, Saigon Jewelry Company and cement maker Vicem.

The announcement of the list is expected to give a boost to the equitization process, which the Enterprise Renovation and Development Steering Committee has deemed sluggish.

Statistics of the committee showed that 55 SOEs underwent privatization last year, just one fifth the number in 2015, bringing the number of SOEs equitized in the 2011-2016 period to 554. 

The government has sold shares in as many as 4,460 SOEs, reducing the number of wholly state-owned companies to 718 as of October 2016, from around 6,000 in 2001 and 1,368 in 2011.

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE