SCIC works to improve corporate governance

The two publications, “Voting instruction manual” and “Corporate governance code”, were released at a workshop that aimed to improve the quality of corporate governance in companies invested in by the State. The SCIC represents the State in managing capital investments.

SCIC deputy general director Nguyen Hong Hien said at the workshop that they want to improve transparency and the logic of decision making processes in companies that are in SCIC’s investment portfolio.

The voting manual will help the SCIC representatives in those companies understand the firms’ reports better and improve the quality of their decision making, he said.

The corporate governance code will help SCIC and its representatives in the businesses participate in the business governance activities on more advance standards, Hien said.

Deeper participation of SCIC in the companies will improve their operation efficiency, raise the business values in the market and increase the value of the State capital in those businesses, he added.

In an attempt to link governance of the State-invested companies with international practices, the SCIC has worked with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and global audit group PriceswaterHouse (PwC) to develop the Corporate Governance Code.

Some salient features of the new code include shareholders’ rights and equal treatment of shareholders.

Phan Duc Hieu, Deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said the release of the manual and code shows SCIC’s determination to improve corporate governance, for itself and for the companies in its investment portfolio.

Hieu said that the two publications reflect good international practices on corporate governance based on the latest recommendations from OECD and G20 and they will be very useful if they are included in the legal policies.

Le Thi Hoai Thu, general director of the ACS Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that the publications would be very helpful in improving the quality of corporate governance in Vietnam.

They can improve business transparency and raise the confidence of shareholders, investors and the community in the companies’ operations, she said.

SCIC also introduced at the workshop some international practices on the corporate governance, including a financial monitoring mechanism via an internal auditing sub-unit in the business.