SIA to tune in SOEs and land

Many SOEs are failing to capitalise on the red-hot property market

Mai Quoc Binh, vice head of the State Inspection Agency (SIA), said the government had asked the department to boost anti-corruption operations and focus on the “hot” sectors of the country’s economy that needed tight controls to prevent corruption and create favourable business conditions for investors.
Binh said that a lot of prime real estate in large cities was being used wastefully under the management of state-owned enterprises, organisations and authorities, while investors were very hungry for good locations to develop projects.

“The SIA will keep a close watch on the land usage of these enterprises, organisations and authorities to ensure transparency and monitor corruption,” Binh said.
Property is now one of the most attractive sectors in Vietnam’s economy.
During the last few years, many property developments have been undertaken in large cities by both local and foreign investors, creating a lack of good locations for new-comers.
Binh said that the SIA had received letters of denunciation for land use problems but he did not reveal the details.

The SIA will also keep an eye on the process of granting investment certificates to investors who develop projects in prime locations, in order to prevent any corrupt activities.
Other issues that the SIA will focus on in 2008 are the equitisation of state-owned enterprises and the implementation of invested projects.
Many large state-owned enterprises are in the process of equitisation, attracting the attention of many international investors.

Binh said that this was a sensitive sector in which individuals could well be acting in their own best interests, and needed to be looked at.
He added that the inspection would focus on accurately determining the price of the enterprise’s assets, and the process of issuing shares to the public.
Earlier this year the SIA inspected the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company and equitisation irregularities.
During 2007, the SIA conducted 27 inspections in state-owned enterprises and authorities, including Vietnam Airlines, the State Bank, the General Department of Vietnam Customs and the Saigon Real Estate Corporation.