WB pledges to support SOEs reforms

December 14, 2016 | 15:50

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The World Bank has pledged to support the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in reforming institutions and State-owned enterprises (SOES).

Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and World Bank country director Ousmane Dione at the Government headquarters in Ha Noi on December 13, 2016. Photo:VGP

The commitment was affirmed by World Bank country director Ousmane Dione and the international institution’s senior economists during their roundtable talk with Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue on Tuesday.

The Government of Viet Nam is mulling over the establishment of an agency responsible for managing State capital invested in SOEs.

The agency needs to act independently from SOEs and other State agencies, suggested the World Bank economists.

Speaking at the roundtable talk, Deputy PM Hue extended sincere thanks to the World Bank for its provision of recommendations to help the Government design right decisions on reforming SOEs.

He expressed his hope that the World Bank would continue granting technical assistance to the Government to perform the representative role of ownership of State capital at enterprises in specific sectors like finance, infrastructure, construction, and industry.

After 15 years of re-arranging SOEs, the number has sharply decreased, especially small-scale and weak ones.

In 2001, there were around 6,000 SOEs operating in 60 sectors and the total reduced to 1,369 in 2011 and 718 in 2016, focusing on 19 sectors.

The SOEs contribute 28.8% to the GDP while the non-State and foreign direct investment (FDI) sectors make up 11.8% and 17.9%, respectively.

VGP

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