Removing obstacles in implementing the equitization of Lai Vu Company

Formation process

On January 12, 2004, the Provincial People's Committee decided to lease land to the Hai Duong Shipbuilding Industrial Park Project Management Board (under the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group) to invest in building infrastructure for the Hai Duong Shipbuilding Industrial Park in Lai Vu Commune (Kim Thanh). According to the approved project, the industrial park area is 192.317 hectares. In 2010, this project was subject to transfer when restructuring the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group. Accordingly, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group received the original status of the enterprises and projects in the Lai Vu Shipbuilding Industrial Park (formerly the Hai Duong Shipbuilding Industrial Park), including Lai Vu Shipbuilding Industry One Member Co., Ltd.

On December 21, 2012, the Provincial People's Committee decided to reclaim and lease the above area to Lai Vu Industrial Park One Member Co., Ltd. (modified from the above enterprise, called Lai Vu Company) for use, investment, and construction of Lai Vu Industrial Park. The land lease term is until January 12, 2054. On April 7, 2014, implementing the direction of the Prime Minister, Hai Duong province received the original status of Lai Vu Industrial Park including Lai Vu Industrial Park One Member Co., Ltd. from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. In 2015, the Provincial People's Committee adjusted the detailed planning for the construction of Lai Vu Industrial Park, in which the area for construction of factories and enterprises is nearly 148 hectares.

Lai Vu Company is an enterprise established with 100% state capital, operating under the first business registration certificate in 2006, registered for the 8th change in 2020. Total registered charter capital is 168 billion VND, mainly doing business in infrastructure, leasing factories in industrial parks. Lai Vu Company was assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to receive, manage, operate and exploit Lai Vu Industrial Park since 2014. Based on the received documents, the company has focused on resolving some existing issues, investing in building and completing infrastructure, promoting and attracting investment. The enterprise has coordinated to implement secondary projects in the industrial park. Currently, the occupancy rate of Lai Vu Industrial Park is over 98%.

Troubleshooting

Pursuant to Decision 184/QD-TTg dated February 20, 2024 of the Prime Minister on restructuring state-owned enterprises and enterprises with state capital, Lai Vu Company must be equitized by the end of 2025. The proportion of state capital expected to be held after equitization is from 50% or less. However, the enterprise still has some problems that need to be resolved soon to implement the equitization plan.

At the time the province received the industrial park in its original state and Lai Vu Company did not evaluate the assets handed over from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. At that time, the security and order situation in the industrial park had many complicated developments, and complaints were prolonged because people did not agree with the compensation and support policies for site clearance. Construction works and items invested by the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group were all stopped, and design documents were lost. According to the audited financial report at the time of handover in 2014, the unfinished basic construction costs of Lai Vu Industrial Park before June 2010 were about 468 billion VND. However, there were not enough documents as a basis for finalizing construction items to form fixed assets. Therefore, the annual depreciation expense could not be deducted.

In Lai Vu Industrial Park, there are 5 enterprises under the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group that have signed land lease contracts with an area of ​​47.53 hectares, but most of the enterprises are operating inefficiently, at a standstill, have not paid land rent, and are wasting infrastructure. Of these, 2 enterprises have liquidated assets to hand over the land to Lai Vu Company. The remaining 3 enterprises using 33.75 hectares of land in the industrial park have stopped operating and are operating at a standstill. These enterprises have not paid land rent, infrastructure costs, and when the investor requested to liquidate invested assets such as factories to return the land, the enterprises did not cooperate. Therefore, it affected the financial handling when implementing the process of determining the value of equitized enterprises. In addition, Lai Vu Company also implemented a number of projects and works outside the industrial park, which did not ensure the provisions of the Law on Public Investment.

According to the leaders of the Department of Planning and Investment, Lai Vu Company is the only state-owned enterprise to be equitized in the period of 2023-2025. On May 7, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Provincial Inspectorate to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to conduct a surprise, comprehensive inspection of business activities, performance of obligations to the State budget; receipt, management, use of state assets, land, construction investment and related issues from 2014 to present for Lai Vu Company. Based on the inspection conclusion, the specialized agency will determine the value of the enterprise's assets and advise on the equitization plan for Lai Vu Company in the third quarter of 2024.