State-owned enterprises slow to divulge information to public

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According to the Central Institute for Economic Management, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Vietnam are not adequately making their information public.

SOEs lack clear and compulsory regulations on information announcement

Only a small number of SOEs make public necessary information for improving business administration such as risk management policies, salary and bonus for top managers and inside transactions.

According to the institute\'s new survey, up to 80% of interviewed SOEs did not send annual financial reports to agencies which granted business registrations for them and only half of the leaders surveyed received mid-year financial reports. Just 31% of SOEs revealed that they applied internal audits.

The survey also indicates that agencies representing the state ownership are still holding state management functions, leading to overlap and lax management. More than 60% of general directors of SOEs also act as chairman on the board of directors or advisory board.

It was also found that the board of directors of SOEs do not supervise internal interest disputes and business transactions with related sides effectively and do not fully operate in a professional manner.

Currently, state-owned companies, particularly wholly state-owned, do not have clear criteria to evaluate members of their board of directors or chairman.

Surveyed SOEs also acknowledged that massive non-core investments in SOEs such as in Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) were attributed to ineffective supervisions on investment, monopoly and small shareholder protection.