On the afternoon of September 24, the National Assembly Standing Committee discussed the proposal to invest state capital in the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).

Nguyen Thi Hong, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), reported that the Government has asked the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to review and submit to the National Assembly the decision on the proposed additional investment of over VND 20,695 billion of state capital in Vietcombank, to be included in the general resolution of the 8th session.

The additional investment capital comes from the state shareholder's dividends in the form of shares, from the retained earnings accumulated until the end of 2018 and the remaining profits of 2021 from Vietcombank.

According to Governor Hong, the additional investment of state capital in Vietcombank is urgent and aligns with the directives approved by the National Assembly and the Government in resolutions 43/2022 of the National Assembly and resolution 11 of the Government.

This move also aligns with the development strategy of the banking sector up to 2025, with a vision towards 2030; the project of restructuring the credit institution system associated with handling bad debts for the 2021-2025 period; aiming to meet the minimum capital adequacy ratios as required.

This additional state capital investment will enhance Vietcombank's financial capacity to strive to be among the top 100 largest banks in the Asian region; affirming its leadership role in the banking and finance sector as directed by the Party and Government.

With this, Vietcombank will have the capability to implement state policies and support the economy, such as credit policies for the development of agriculture and rural areas; interest support policies and obligations to the state budget.

"This is a necessary condition for Vietcombank to have sufficient resources to support the restructuring of weak credit institutions assigned by the Government and the State Bank, ensuring system safety, contributing to the healthy and stable development of the banking sector and the economy," stated the Governor of the State Bank.

Governor Hong mentioned that the additional charter capital of Vietcombank is expected to be used for investment in infrastructure, office buildings, information technology, digital transformation, and business expansion.

Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, reported that the committee unanimously agrees with the Government's proposal to include this matter in the general resolution of the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly.

The auditing agency requested the Government to continue to review and propose specific content for the general resolution of the session to report to the National Assembly.

It was emphasized that the Government is responsible to the National Assembly for the accuracy of the data and the scale of the additional investment of state capital at Vietcombank.

Concluding the session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee agrees on the necessity, the amount of capital, and the plan for additional state capital investment in Vietcombank as presented by the Government.

He urged the Government to take into account the opinions at the session, the auditing agency, to finalize the documents to be submitted to the National Assembly, ensuring they are sent to the National Assembly deputies before October 1.

Thu Hang