Proposal that state-owned enterprises are not allowed to invest in real estate and securities

One of the major contents of the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises is the prohibition of investment activities of state-owned enterprises.

Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Le Quang Manh - Photo: GIA HAN

On the morning of November 23, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long presented the National Assembly with the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises.

No regulations on content and mechanism of salary payment at enterprises

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the draft law has closely followed the purpose, guiding viewpoints and specified the content of policy groups when proposing to build. In particular, the Government specifically stipulates the authority on personnel work, business strategy, annual business plan and profit distribution according to the authority of capital investors in enterprises. In principle, the order of profit distribution after tax, the Government proposes to allocate no more than 50% to the development investment fund for enterprises, the management and use of the development investment fund for enterprises shall be implemented according to the Government's regulations. The remaining amount after use and allocation of funds according to regulations, enterprises shall pay to the state budget. According to this plan, the estimated amount paid to the state budget from profits and dividends will decrease by about VND 19,847 billion/year, enterprises are allowed to use this source according to the Government's regulations. According to the 2021 state budget revenue settlement approved by the National Assembly, the total budget payment from dividends and after-tax profits of enterprises is 69,463 billion VND. Regarding the mechanism for paying salaries and bonuses to employees at enterprises, people appointed, introduced, and hired directly to work at enterprises by the capital owner's representative agency, when proposing to draft a law, it is determined to supplement this expenditure content in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 27. Incorporating comments, the draft law does not stipulate the content and mechanism for paying salaries at enterprises. Using after-tax profits to pay salaries and bonuses to people appointed by the capital owner's representative agency to work at enterprises, this expenditure is paid by the enterprise and accounted for in the enterprise's expenses.

Forms of state-owned enterprises invested in

One of the major contents of the draft law is the prohibition and investment activities of state-owned enterprises. According to the draft law, state-owned enterprises carry out domestic and foreign investment in the following forms: Adding capital to enterprises; investing capital, contributing capital, buying shares, buying capital contributions; through business cooperation contracts and investing capital through investment projects. The draft law also clearly stipulates cases where enterprises are not allowed to invest capital. In particular, state-owned enterprises are not allowed to invest capital in real estate, except for enterprises whose main business line is real estate trading. Along with that, they are also not allowed to invest capital to establish enterprises, contribute capital, buy shares in banks, insurance companies, securities companies, venture capital funds, securities investment funds, securities investment companies and securities investment fund management companies. Except for enterprises with the function of investing and trading state capital, doing business in the fields of banking, insurance, and securities. Examining this content, the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee stated that the draft law stipulates cases where enterprises are not allowed to invest capital "to overcome the situation of scattered and scattered investment, to exploit the maximum potential and strengths of enterprises based on assigned tasks, main business lines and occupations". However, some opinions said that the regulation that capital investment is not allowed in some areas is to limit the rights of enterprises, narrow the scope and fields of investment and reduce the competitiveness of state-owned enterprises compared to other types of enterprises. The provisions of the draft law also do not include the case where commercial banks receive compulsory transfers of specially controlled banks according to the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions. To ensure coverage, the examining agency proposed to review and supplement the provisions in the draft law. Regarding the form of investment of enterprises, according to the Finance and Budget Committee, the draft law does not cover all forms of investment of state-owned enterprises, and does not distinguish between domestic investment and investment abroad. This can lead to difficulties and obstacles in implementation. Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-xuat-doanh-nghiep-nha-nuoc-khong-duoc-rot-von-vao-bat-dong-san-chung-khoan-20241123100641036.htm