Econ
Hanoi: 96 SOEs set to be divested
A city government decision announced that Hanoi People’s Committee will divest from 96 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) located in the Capital from 2016-2020.
Other companies the State will divest from include Thuong Dinh Footwear Company, Hanoi Plastic Company, Minh Khai Textile Company and electronics producer Hanel Co. Ltd. The SOEs have total charter capital of more than 10.3 trillion VND (457.78 million USD) with the State holding more than 4 trillion VND.
The city will divest from business units that are not the core business of the SOEs. The city also has to attract private investors to buy shares of the SOEs in order to restructure the companies and improve the quality of corporate performance.
The city will sell less than half of the State’s shares in companies that must be controlled by the Government and divest entirely from the others, especially those in which the State has less than 50 percent of shares.
The city’s Business Development and Renovation Committee will tackle unexpected problems immediately and work with related sectors and agencies to deal with issues rising in the divestments.
The city’s Department of Finance and the Business Development and Renovation Committee will work with other city and Government’s agencies to make sure the SOE equitisation is efficient and goes to schedule.
The two city’s agencies will also help SOEs and consultancy firms comply with regulations in equitisation and divestment. The SOEs on the must-sell list have to prepare documents on their business, including property and land-use rights, financial status, labour and other relevant issues so that the equitisation and divestment can be undertaken quickly and efficiently.
The steering committee said 48 SOEs have had equitisation plans approved this year. The total value of these firms is roughly 32 trillion VND (1.4 billion USD), 23.28 trillion VND (1.04 billion USD) of which belongs to the State.
Under the approved plans, the SOEs will have a combined charter capital of more than 23 trillion VND (1.03 billion USD), of which the State holds more than 11 trillion VND (493 million USD). Nearly 7.5 trillion VND (336.1 million USD) of shares will be sold to investors, 342 billion VND to workers, 6.7 billion VND to trade unions, and more than 4.1 trillion VND will be put up for initial public offering.
The Steering Committee for Business Reform and Development is supervising the approved restructuring to speed up SOE equitisation, aiming to make the companies more efficient.
