Transport sector boosts equitisation, divestment in 2016

The Ministry of Transport continues taking measures to accelerate the equitisation and the divestment of all State capital from transport corporations in 2016.

The key targeted businesses include the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), the Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC), the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (Cuu Long CIMP).

According to Director of the Ministry’s Enterprise Management Department Vu Anh Minh, the Ministry will undertake measures to complete the equitisation of the above-mentioned corporations, as well as the Nam Thang Long Transport Hospital.

A Vinalines ship (Source: shipspotting)

Furthermore, the Ministry aims to equitise the Academy of Aviation, the Thang Long Vocational training School, and the two Transport Hospitals in the central cities of Vinh and Da Nang.

This year, the Ministry also targets to complete the divestment of state-owned capital from eight corporations in other sectors, including the Vietnam Motor Industry Corporation (Vinamotor), the Civil Engineering Construction Corporations (Cienco 5, 6, 8) and the Transport Engineering Design Inc (TEDI).

Additionally, the process of divesting from a number of the Ministry’s seaports, and the affiliates of Vietnam Railways (VNR) will also be stepped up this year.

Minh highlighted the success the sector has made in equitising its enterprises over the past five years, saying that the Ministry will work with other ministries and sectors on the equitisation process of the remaining enterprises.

From 2011-2015, 137 businesses in the transport sector went public, 67 more than the target, according to the Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong.

As of the end of last year, the number of firms having completed IPO (initial public offering) reached 124, including 12 corporations, paying more than 1.7 trillion VND (75.9 million USD) into the fund supporting the rearrangement of State owned enterprises (SOEs) of the State Capital Investment Corporation.

In the 2011-2014 period, the total revenue of the Ministry’s 18 equitised enterprises recorded an increase of 15.28 percent, with their contribution to the state budget up by 51.52 percent, and the average per capital income of their labourers up by 32.28 percent.