MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY MASTER THESIS RESTRUCTURING SOEs IN LINE WITH NEW GENERATION FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS OF VIETNAM: THE CASE OF CPTPP AND EVFTA Specialization: International Trade Policy and Law FULL NAME: PHAM THI THANH HONG Hanoi – 2020 Luan van MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY MASTER THESIS RESTRUCTURING SOEs IN LINE WITH NEW GENERATION FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS OF VIETNAM: THE CASE OF CPTPP AND EVFTA Major: International Economics Specialization: International Trade Policy and Law Code: 1706060005 Full name: Pham Thi Thanh Hong Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh Hanoi - 2020 Luan van STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this master thesis is my own scientific research which is made under the guidance of my supervisor, Assoc. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh. The contents and results of this research are completely honest.
The information, data and documents which are collected from various sources for analysis and evaluation have been fully cited in the main content and in the references list of this master thesis as well. Student, Pham Thi Thanh Hong i Luan van CONTENTS LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES, TABLES. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Evaluating implementation of SOEs’ restructuring.
Measures of SOEs’ restructuring. Restructuring SOEs in line with the NGFTAs. The scope of the research. Research approach and methodology.
Structure of the thesis. OVERVIEW OF RESTRUCTURING SOEs IN LINE WITH THE NGFTAs. Overview of NGFTAs. Definition of NGFTAs.
Characteristics of NGFTAs. Roles of NGFTAs. Overview of SOEs. Definition of SOEs.
Characteristics of SOEs. Rationales of SOEs’ rule on NGFTAs. Impacts of NGFTA on SOE. Restructuring SOEs in line with NGFTAs.
17 ii Luan van 1. Definition of SOEs’ restructuring. Goals of SOEs’ restructuring in line with NGFTAs. Measures of SOEs’ restructuring in line with NGFTAs.
Factors affecting SOEs’ restructuring in line with NGFTAs. CURRENT SITUATION OF RESTRUCTURING SOEs IN LINE WITH VIETNAM’S NGFTAs: THE CASE OF CPTPP AND EVFTA 26 2. Overview of Vietnam’s NGFTAs. Overview of CPTPP.
Overview of EVFTA. Obligations under the CPTPP and EVFTA Agreements pertaining to SOEs restructuring in Vietnam. Overview of SOEs in Vietnam currently. Definition of SOEs on Vietnam's legislation.
Performance of SOEs in the period of 2011-2020. Implementation of SOEs’ restructuring in the period of 2011-2020. Restructuring economic institutions and corporate governance of SOEs. Restructuring SOEs' ownership structure.
Restructuring the monitoring of owner’s representative agency. Evaluating SOEs’ restructuring in line with CPTPP and EVFTA. Limitations and Causes. Some experience from restructuring SOEs in line with CPTPP and EVFTA in the period of 2011-2020.
RECOMMENDATION FOR VIETNAM IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTRUCTURING SOEs IN LINE WITH NGFTAs FOR THE PERIOD OF 2021-2030. Context, oppotunities and challenges. Opportunities and challenges. International experiences in restructuring SOEs in line with NGFTA.
79 iii Luan van 3. Lessons learned for Vietnam. Objectives and task orientations of SOEs' restructuring in line with CPTPP and EVFTA for the period of 2021-2030. Task orientations of SOEs' restructuring to 2030.
Solutions to restructure SOEs in line with CPTPP and EVFTA for the period of 2021-2030. Solutions to restructure economic institutions and corporate governance of SOEs. Solutions to restructure SOEs' ownership structure. Solutions to restructure the monitoring of owner’s representative agency.
93 LIST OF REFERENCES. EVFTA and CPTPP: SOEs’ Application and Exemptions. List of legal documment on restructuring SOEs 2011 - 2020. Preliminary comparison of the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of SOEs (2015) and situation of Corporate Governance of SOEs in Vietnam.
Performance of SOEs in the period of 2011-2020. 123 iv Luan van LIST OF BOXES, FIGURES, TABLES BOXES Page Box 2. Impact of maintaining state ownership in investment attraction 61 results: Compare 2 equitization cases under the Ministry of Construction Box 3. European Commission report on SOEs in 2016 74 FIGURES Figure 1.
Measures of SOEs’ restructuring 19 Figure 1. Monitoring of SOEs’ performance 23 Figure 2. Number of equitized SOEs 45 Figure 2. SOEs’ supervision subjects 49 Figure 2.
Adjustment to reduce number of industries, sectors that the 52 State holds 100% authorized capital or dominant stock Figure 2. The compliance status of regulation on SOEs’ information 68 disclosure TABLES Table 1. Methods and objectives of SOEs’ privatization 22 Table 2. Financial development index of enterprises in 2010-2017 37 period Table 2.
IPO results of equitized enterprises in the period of 2011-2016 46 i Luan van ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In order to complete this master thesis, I have been received enthusiastic guidance and support from my lectures, family and friends. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to express my thanks to them. Firstly, I would like to express the sincerest thanks to my supervisor, Assoc. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh who has supported, guided and encouraged me during the completion of this master thesis from choosing the topic, outlining the main ideas, turning those ideas into this thesis to editing this paper.
Without his enthusiastic and excellent guidance and support, I could not have completed this master thesis. Also, I would like to express my special thanks to all lectures of the Master of International Policy and Law program, Foreign Trade University as well as World Trade Institute who gave me the chance to broaden my humble horizon in the field of economics and laws. Last but not least, I would like to express my warm thanks to my family, my colleagues and my friends who never stop supporting, encouraging and giving me the favorable conditions to complete this master thesis. ii Luan van LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BCC Business Cooperation Contracts CMSC Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific CPTPP Partnership EU European Union EVFTA EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade IMF International Monetary Fund NCA Non-commercial assistance NGFTAs New generation free trade agreements POE Privately Owned Enterprise ROE Return on equity SASAC State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission SCIC State Capital and Investment Corporation SOBs State-owned banks SOEs State-owned enterprises WTO World Trade Organization iii Luan van ABSTRACT New generation free trade agreement (NGFTA) is an inevitable tendency for members to deeply cooperate in a variety of areas, including SOEs.
Joining NGFTAs, Vietnam is not out of that tendency, therefore, Vietnam has to fully comply with commitments regulated in NGFTAs. With the topic “Restructuring SOEs in line with the new generation Free Trade Agreements of Vietnam: the case of CPTPP and EVFTA”, the thesis focuses on Vietnam's legislation, implementation of SOEs’ restructuring and Vietnam's NGFTAs in order to point out the dispositions on restructuring SOEs. Not limited to this, the thesis analyzes Vietnam’s policy on restructuring SOEs compared to SOEs' obligation stated in NGFTAs. Following that, the thesis mainly focuses on several issues and gains some achievements as below.
Firstly, the thesis comprehensively analyzes regulations on restructuring SOEs in Vietnam and NGFTAs of Vietnam. As a result, the similarities and differences between them are stated. Based on that, the thesis reveals that there is an incompatibility of the SOEs' definition and disclosure obligations for SOEs under the CPTPP, but not SOEs under Vietnamese law, some information relating to the subsidies for SOEs is still missing (such as the total value of the subsidy, the impact assessment of the subsidy on trade). This is a "gap" that Vietnam must complete to ensure the obligation to enforce regulations on SOEs in the CPTPP and EVFTA.
Secondly, the thesis details measures of SOEs’ restructuring that Vietnam implemented from 2011 to 2020, including: (i) Restructuring economic institutions and corporate governance of SOEs; (ii) Restructuring SOEs' ownership structure; (iii) Restructuring the monitoring of owner’s representative agency. Thirdly, based on the analysis above, the thesis recommends solutions for SOEs’ restructuring in line with CPTPP and EVFTA in the coming period, contributing to perfecting the market economy institution, improving the performance of businesses, the efficiency of using social resources, efficiency and competitiveness of the economy, avoiding risks of violating commitments in NGFTAs. iv Luan van INTRODUCTION 1. Research rationale State-owned enterprise (SOE) is a specific kind of enterprise with specific characteristics and inherent competitive advantages.
It often exists for several reasons, including a mixture of social, economic and strategic interests. Contrary to what might be expected, SOEs still play a role in twenty-first-century trade. More importantly, the (possibly) competition distortive behavior of SOEs is no longer only affecting the domestic markets but has expanded to international trade. While fewer economies are relying on SOEs to provide goods and services, those SOEs that still exist increasingly affect international trade.
Because of global value chains, globalization, and the opening up of WTO Members’ markets, the possible trade and investment distorting effects of SOEs participation in international trade have entered the limelight. In the context of globalization, countries tend to extensively and comprehensively cooperate in a variety of areas, therefore, the number of NGFTAs has increased significantly and gradually replaced traditional free trade agreements (FTAs). NGFTA is an inevitable tendency for members to deeply cooperate in a variety of areas, including SOEs. Joining NGFTAs, Vietnam is not out of that tendency, therefore, has to fully comply with commitments regulated in NGFTAs.
EVFTA and CPTPP are two of the largest NGFTAs that Vietnam's largest-ever negotiated. Not only containing traditional market access issues in goods, trade services, and investment, both agreements also cover new areas either not covered by or going much deeper than the WTO. Moreover, the new agreements set international rules that will have stronger impacts on Vietnam’s domestic policies and institutions than any FTAs in the past. The country’s enthusiasm for these agreements has been motivated by the fact that while Vietnam has gained much from trade liberalization and international integration, there remains a long way to go.
Participation in the CPTPP and EVFTA provides Vietnam an opportunity to continue its rapid growth and to enhance national competitiveness. However, these agreements also carry significant risks that need to be mitigated. The integration and implementation of international commitments require constant innovation in the structure of the economy. Restructuring SOEs will help to free up resources and economic space for the private sector.
In Vietnam, the practice has shown that the resource utilization efficiency of SOEs is still low and they reduce the efficiency and overall competitiveness of the economy. Many SOEs become a burden to society and the cost is much higher than the SOEs maintenance benefit. Therefore, restructuring the SOEs is both a requirement to improve the SOEs’ performance, promote the development of market economy, improve efficiency and overall competitiveness of a transition economy as well as compliance with signed international commitments. Many SOEs’ reforms have been implemented in Vietnam since the late 1980s such as reorganization, organizational restructuring, equitization, sale, delivery, transfer of 1 Luan van enterprises, the innovation of management mechanism, etc.
Through the implementation stages, besides the positive results, restructuring SOEs revealed many limitations, it is necessary to have new solutions or new ways to achieve better goals and higher efficiency. In addition, the new context requires a more comprehensive and in-depth assessment of policies and practices of SOEs’ restructuring in Vietnam in line with NGFTAs. For the reasons mentioned above, the topic “Restructuring SOEs in line with the new generation Free Trade Agreements of Vietnam: the case of CPTPP and EVFTA" is chosen to evaluate SOE's restructuring process from 2011 to 2020 and propose solutions for the period of 2021-2030. Evaluating implementation of SOEs’ restructuring From 2011 to 2019, many doctoral theses were published related to restructuring SOEs.
Some studies analyzed a specific solution of SOEs’ restructuring. And some theses recommended comprehensive solutions of SOEs’ restructuring on the scope of specific localities or sectors.