Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed ministries, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and relevant agencies to remain aware of group interests and act against corruption in the equitisation of state-owned enterprises.

Phuc made the request at a meeting on August 30 to discuss state divestment from some SOEs, including the Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage JSC (Sabeco), Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage JSC (Habeco) and Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk).

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the mêting

The sluggish equitisation of SOEs and their ineffective operations have always been the focus of the public and media for many years.

The Central Institute of Economic Management has pointed out in a recent report that interest groups embedded in these organisations are among the reasons for the slow pace of SOE economic restructuring between 2016 and 2020.

Even in some equitised companies, there are still regulations on majority rights related to state ownership so that leaders continue to hold their seats and control interest groups. This can be seen in the case of Sabeco and Habeco where the state ownership is 89.59% and 81.79% respectively.

According to the PM, sectors and government agencies must keep a close watch on SCIC which is responsible for managing the state’s holdings in the SOEs on behalf of the government to help the corporation seek the best opportunities to sell government stakes in SOEs at the highest prices.

In terms of divestment from Sabeco and Habeco, the prime minister asked the two beverage producers to be listed on the stock exchange before the rest of the state’s holdings are sold.

The evaluation of the two beverage companies must be determined by the public bidding competition and the value of land property must be calculated separately from the value of the businesses, Phuc said, noting that highly reliable consultancy firms were needed to prevent the loss of state investment in the firms.

Vietnam targeted to equitise 415 SOEs in 2015, however, in reality, only 70 companies were equitised last year.

Under the SOE restructuring scheme through 2020, the number of SOEs would be reduced from 1,309 to 17, while corporations holding 100% of state capital would be cut to 200.