Vietnam says may revive bank, airline share sale plans in 2010

VNStockNews.com - Vietnam may next year revive long-stalled plans to sell shares in companies including Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and Vietnam Airlines Corp., Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said.

State-owned enterprises are “crowding out capital” that could be used more efficiently by privately held companies, said the US delegation to a meeting in Hanoi Thursday between the Vietnamese government and countries and organizations led by the World Bank. The government should move forward with plans to sell shares, the US said in a statement.

BIDV, the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, had intended to sell shares as early as 2007, before delaying plans first due to concerns about oversupply, and then due to the global financial crisis. A Vietnam Airlines share sale was planned for 2008, based on a 2007 Vietnamese government statement.

“There are some state-owned banks and companies which planned to sell shares to foreign investors but due to the financial crisis, their plans haven’t been implemented yet,” Phuc said in an interview.

“These companies, we will try to have them done in 2010,” Phuc said, when asked specifically about BIDV and Vietnam Airlines.