Vietnam is to set up eight economic groups, which are all developed from State corporations, in 2006, the Steering Board for Enterprise Reform and Development told a press briefing in Hanoi on January 13.
The figure will make the total number of State corporations remain at 93 by the end of this year, Ho Xuan Hung, Deputy Head of the committee said.
Vietnam needs to form new strong trading groups because it wants to increase the competition capability for domestic enterprises as the country prepares to join the World Trade Organization.
The Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industry Group (VCMIG), which made its debut last weekend with the merge of the existing Vietnam Coal Group and the Vietnam Mineral Corporation, became the first economic group established this year.
However, no schedule for the launching of other groups has been released.
According to Hung, out of the current 100 corporations, 80 reported jumps in revenue in 2005, the lose-making corporations are operating in transport construction, agricultural production and paper sectors.
Under the 2006 State-owned enterprises restructuring plan approved by the Prime Minister, the State will keep its full control of the capital of its 1,800 enterprises, while retaining its controlling stake at 900 equitized enterprises and ceasing to hold dominant shares in 700 others, Hung said.
From 2001-2005, a total of 3,590 State-owned enterprises out of 5,655 had been rearranged, of which 2,347 went public.
Since 1992, 2,450 SOEs with a combined capital of VND17.7 trillion ($1.13 billion) have been equitized, most of them have been small enterprises with 40 per cent capitalized at under VND5 billion ($316.5 million).
In 2005, State-owned enterprises earned total revenue of VND680 trillion, a 12 per cent increase over 2004, accounting for 40 per cent of the country’s GDP.
New Hanoi, VNA
Vietnamese
