New finance investment firm supersedes HIFU
By Thuy Trieu - The Saigon Times Daily
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| HCMC Chairman Le Hoang Quan (R) hands the decision on establishment of HFIC to HFIC chairwoman Ngo Kim Lien at the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday - Photo: Le Toan |
HCMC – The HCMC government on Tuesday announced the establishment of Hochiminh City Finance and Investment Co. (HFIC) as a non-banking financial institution succeeding HCMC Investment Fund for Urban Development (HIFU).
Besides assuming earlier duties of HIFU, the new company will also be entrusted on a pilot basis to represent State capital in State-owned corporations, one-member limited companies, as well as shareholding firms that have been transformed from State-owned companies under the city government.
Diep Dung, general director of the company, told the Daily that for the time being, HFIC would focus on accomplishing earlier mandates of HIFU.
However, it will soon map out a plan to gradually take over State stakes in enterprises. Dung said such a plan would be put up for comment from relevant authorities in the city before HFIC works with State-owned enterprises (SOE) on specific corporate strategies to bolster their competitiveness or improve their business efficiency.
Such a role by HFIC can be likened to that of the State Capital Investment Corporation, a financial arm of the central Government representing State capital in centrally-governed State-owned companies.
The newly-installed general director, however, said he did not know exactly the number of corporations with State capital in HCMC as well as the total amount of State capital in such corporations.
“The city government has asked HFIC’s management to work with the departments of Finance, Planning and Investment, and the HCMC Committee for SOE Reform to check all enterprises with State funds at the moment,” Dung said.
HFIC is a one-member limited State-owned company and is organized as a holding firm, replacing HIFU which had operated for 12 years. The corporation has chartered capital of VND5 trillion.
Main functions of HFIC include mobilizing capital from local and foreign individuals and institutions, borrowing money from credit and financial institutions, issuing municipal bonds as sanctioned by the city government, and directly and indirectly investing in projects.