Privatization Target Seems out of Reach: Researcher

Vietnam will have to make share sales in a total of 948 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the end of 2010 if the government’s plans for their restructuring are to be met, but this is unlikely to be completed in time, PhD Vu Dinh Anh, dean of the Price and Market Research Institute under the Ministry of Finance said.

 

The ministry’s figures showed that just 73 SOEs, or 28 per cent of the target for this year, had been privatized this year, he said. Meanwhile, the government plans to restructure 1,535 SOEs, including privatizing 948 ones, between 2008 and 2010.

 

In 2007, the government sold shares in 116 enterprises, or 21 per cent of the year’s target.

 

So far, the capital raised from privatization process accounts for less than 15 per cent of the combined capital in SOEs, according to the Ministry of Finance

 

Anh attributed the failure in privatization schedule to the government’s viewpoint about share sales, which are aimed to increase capital for the state, rather than the slump of the stock market.

 

The director said the government’s priorities for privatization were unlikely to be realized in 2009 as it would have to manage the prevailing macro-economic challenges.

 

Earlier, The Ministry of Planning and Investment said Vietnam plans to sell shares in 19 state-run corporations next year. (Ministry of Finance, Saigon Marketing)