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May 27, 2018 / 08:30

Super committee to manage nearly US$66 billion of 20 groups

The Committee for State Capital Management will represent the owners of 20 groups and corporations with total capital and assets of more than VND1.5 quadrillion (US$65.78 billion).

It was drafted in the latest version of a decree prescribing the functions, tasks, powers, and organization structure of the committee released recently. In the previous draft, the committee included 21 groups and corporations with estimated total capital and asset value of up to VND5.4 quadrillion. The corporation out of the list is the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (Cuu Long CIPM).
 
The Airports Corporation of Vietnam will be shifted to the committee.
The Airports Corporation of Vietnam will be shifted to the committee.
Of the 20 groups and corporations, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) would be transferred from the finance ministry – its current management agency – to the special committee and it would continue representing the government to control the State capital in the other 20 state-owned enterprises.
The other 19 groups and corporations are corporations in which the State holds 100 percent or the controlling stake of the charter capital and lie under the management of the ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development, Transport, and Information and Communications.
Those included seven State-run corporations: the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), the Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem), the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).
Among the remaining 12 large-cap SOEs are the Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Co Ltd (MobiFone), the Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), the flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe) and the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR).
After the launching of the committee, 20 groups and corporations run by ministries and agencies will be shifted to the committee.
It is expected that if the draft decree is approved, the transfer of the groups and corporations to the committee will be completed by the end of 2018.
In order to avoid the delay in transferring, the decree clearly stipulates that within 90 days from the effective date of this decree, the relevant ministries and the committee must complete the minutes on the transfer.
The special committee, founded in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Resolution 09/NQ-CP dated February 3, 2018, would receive State ownership in the 20 SOEs from ministries and sectors.
In order to manage the
US$65.78 billion capital in 20 SOEs, the committee proposed the government establish specialized departments based on different industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, energy, construction and telecommunications, and administrative units on personnel development and arrangement, internal risk management and finance and accounting.
The committee also proposed the finance ministry issue instructions on financial procedures for the committee based on the principles that assure the income of the State budget is sufficiently collected from the 21 SOEs and used efficiently.
The foundation of the special committee is expected to fix the wrongdoings of the current business model in SOEs that require a Government unit to supervise the use of the State capital in those companies.
The new “super agency” is also expected to help ministries and provincial people’s committees to improve their administrative work, thus strengthening the business and investment environment in Vietnam.
However, some analysts have raised concerns that the model is quite new to Vietnam as the “super agency” would have to manage a gigantic amount of State capital in the large-cap SOEs, which are leading their industries in particular and the Vietnamese economy in general.