The government of Vietnam said on its Web site that 74 out of 100 state-owned groups and corps in total posted aggregate revenues of VND510 trillion (US$30.9 billion) in the first half this year, up 50 per cent on year despite the country&rsquos economic difficulties.
Up to 97 per cent of the corps reported profi operations, Deputy Minister of the Government Office Pham Viet Muon told a press briefing on July 10 in Hanoi.
&ldquoThe state-owned groups and corporations, the backbones of the country&rsquos economy, have played a pivotal role in stabilizing the country&rsquos economy despite difficulties, global economic slow down squeezed by soaring oil prices and inflation,&rdquo Muon noted.
Deputy Minister Muon also hailed the roles played by the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation, or Vinafood 1, and the Vietnam Southern Food Corporation, or Vinafood 2, in cooling down rice fevers to stabilize the market in late April and early May this year, Vinachem and its affiliates for stabilizing fertilizer prices.
PetroVietnam imported 60,000 metric tons of liquefied gas to keep gas prices s and reduced 10 per cent-15 per cent of fertilizer prices, Muon added.
Deputy Finance Minister Tran Xuan Ha also told the meeting that 76 groups and corps had raised VND514.465 trillion by the of 2007, up 1.36 folds compared with the equity.
To iron out concerns raised by mass media about investments by groups and corps in recent months, Deputy Minister Ha said several of groups and corps invested a total VND7.37 trillion in banking, finance and real estate, accounting for only 2.16 per cent of their equity and 0.92 per cent of their assets value.
In the first half this year, Vietnam sold shares in 62 state-owned firms, bringing up the total of privatized firms to 3,786 now. Currently, Vietnam has 1,720 state-owned companies. (chinhphu.vn)
Vietnamese
