Vietnam to accelerate divestment plans of SOEs

July 10, 2020 | 21:01

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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved several state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) divestment plans in 2020, signalling Vietnam's ambition to boost the equitisation progress.

According to KB Securities, 120 enterprises will be divested by the representative agencies of the state capital (companies under ministries and provincial People's Committees) including Vietnam Machinery Installation (UPCoM: LLM), Vietnam Pharmaceutical (UPCoM: DVN), and Hanel (UPCoM: HNE).

vietnam to accelerate divestment plans of soes

Vietnam will divest 120 SOEs this year. Photo: Sabeco

Four enterprises will be transferred to State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) for divestment by December 31 if the divestment by the representative agency is not completed before November 30.

14 enterprises will be transferred to the SCIC before August 31 to accelerate the divestment process, including VINAINCON (UPCoM: VVN), Sabeco (HSX: SAB), and Song Da (UPCoM: SJG).

18 enterprises will have separate divestment plans including Vietnam National Petroleum (HSX: PLX), Vietnam Airline (HSX: HVN), and Viglacera (HSX: VGC), among others.

69 enterprises will suspend divestment until the end of this year in order to review and build rearrangement and divestment plans for 2021-2025.

Seck Yee Chung, partner of Baker McKenzie Vietnam, told VIR that the speed of state divestment and equitisation has slowed down, particularly towards the end of 2019 and the Lunar New Year in late January.

“The SOEs to be put on sale in 2020 include various big players in the market such as Agribank, MobiFone, Bao Viet Holding (BVH), and Bao Minh Insurance (BMI). However, the attractiveness and interest will depend on whether there is market recovery and growth, the pricing, and if potential investors are themselves well placed and persuaded to pursue opportunities,” he said.

By Nhat Minh

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