Many State-owned public utility companies in Ho Chi Minh City are set to be equitised in 2019.

A view of Ho Chi Minh City

The office of the municipal People’s Committee said on August 2 that the committee had assigned the city’s board for State-owned enterprise (SOE) management reform to perfect the plan for SOE re-organisation and reform in the 2018-2020 period.

Accordingly, the businesses subject to equitisation next year are the public service companies of the districts of 7, 8, 9, Binh Thanh, Go Vap and Nha Be, along with the Liksin Industry – Printing – Packaging Corporation and the Saigon Jewellery Co. Ltd.

Meanwhile, the HCM City Irrigation Management Company has been included in the list of firms the city asked the Government to exclude from equitisation.

At the proposal of the board for SOE management reform, the municipal People’s Committee also agreed to keep 100 percent of State capital at the Saigon Water Corporation.

The southern city is accelerating procedures and approval of plans on equitisation and divestment of State capital from 39 businesses.

The board attributed the slow equitisation pace to the fact that HCM City is the biggest city of Vietnam, so equitisation and divestment need to be conducted carefully and take into account long-term development orientations.

It added that the businesses had completed asset assessment pending approval of equitisation plans, and once receiving approval, they expected to complete equitisation within 2018 and 2019. –VNA