The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) inked an agreement to transfer its ownership of State capital in five State-owned agriculture enterprises (SOEs) to the Committee for Management of State Capital (CMSC) on November 15.

 

This was the fifth, and also the last, transfer agreement the CMSC has signed, after those with the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Finance, Transport, and Information and Communications. It has completed the handover of a total of 19 State-owned groups and corporations from the ministries as directed by the Government.

 

The five agricultural SEOs include the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), the Vietnam Forestry Corporation (VinaFor), the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (VinaCafe), the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (VinaFood1), and the Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (VinaFood2), according to Permanent Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan.

 

The firms have a combined asset of about 50 trillion VND (2.15 billion USD), among which the VRG possesses the largest capital of 40 trillion VND (1.72 billion USD) and close to half a million hectares of cultivation lands.

 

These five companies are important and have greatly contributed to Vietnam’s economic restructuring and development, said Tuan when addressing the signing ceremony. Furthermore, they play a vital role in ensuring social welfare, food security and national defence in the country, he added.

 

He expected that after the handover, the CMSC will closely work with the MARD and relevant agencies to continue improving the SOEs’ operational efficiency and accelerating their restructuring process. 

 

The transfer of the SEOs to the CMSC is to realise Resolution 12-NQ/TW, issued at the fifth sitting of the 12th Party Central Committee in June 2017, which decides to set up a specialised governmental body to represent the ownership of the State capital at SOEs.

 

The CMSC, also called “super committee”, debuted in late September. As of December 31 last year, the total value of the State equity at these firms topped 1 quadrillion VND (34.8 billion USD) while their combined asset was valued at 2.3 quadrillion VND (80.04 billion USD). – VNA