Dr Burkhard Schrage, Senior Programme Manager of Management at RMIT’s School of Business & Management talked about the work of equitising State-owned enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While private enterprises have made more outward investments, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been gradually reducing their investments, reported Bizlive.

State-owned economic groups had registered 114 outward investment projects as of the end of 2019 with registered capital of $13.8 billion, according to the MInistry of Public Investment.

Effective in 2021, the amended laws on Enterprises, Investment, and Public-Private Partnership are expected to entail breakthrough changes to Vietnam’s business and investment landscape in the coming time, 

The National Assembly (NA) passed the revised Law on Enterprises on Wednesday morning in Ha Noi, introducing several important changes to regulations overseeing business activities.

Major infrastructure projects, especially in the southern key economic zone, are moving at a snail’s pace due mainly to slow site clearance and capital disbursement, according to a report the Government recently sent to the National Assembly.

State-owned economic groups, complaining about the losses caused by Covid-19, have asked for financial support at a time when the government is preoccupied with fighting the pandemic.

The equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) was being hindered by troublesome policies, lack of transparency in land management and the recent devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said.

The Q1 finance reports released by enterprises in nearly all business fields, from manufacturing and real estate to aviation and oil and gas, show big losses. Large enterprises have reported huge losses of trillions of dong.

State-owned transport giants Airports Corporation of Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines, Vietnam Railways, and Vietnam Maritime Corporation suffered all-time biggest losses in the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19

Many state-owned corporations (SOEs) have asked to be put under the management of ministries as they were in the past. The proposal has been described by VCCI chair Vu Tien Loc as a "step back in the reform process".

As issues related to land use rights still hinder State-owned enterprises (SOEs) from executing equitisation on time, the finance ministry has built a draft to amend the current decree regulating land issues.

Enterprises in the transport sector have suffered the most from the epidemic.

The policy under which enterprises’ managers are paid based on the enterprises’ scale and numbers of workers is unreasonable, according to experts.

A VCCI (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) report released in late 2019 showed that the privileges to ‘crony’ businesses have decreased, but not enough to ensure equal competition among businesses.

The successful equitisation and capital divestment of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) would create benefits that boosted the stock market and business performance, experts have said.

Ministries are working to convince Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to amend divestment plans at some large State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The Government has asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to build a project on developing large-scale State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to promote their role in the country’s socio-economic development.

Ministries are working to convince Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to amend divestment plans at some large State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The increasing amount of property and land under State-owned enterprises (SOEs) was mentioned as a factor in their slow equitisation.