Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai works at Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company

On April 5, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, Head of the Steering Committee for handling shortcomings and weaknesses of a number of slow-progressing and ineffective projects and enterprises under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and a working delegation inspected, surveyed the situation and worked with Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company (DQS).

Photo caption — *Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai speaks at a working session with leaders of Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company. Photo: An Dang/VNA*

At the meeting, the leader of Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) said that after receiving DQS from Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashine) on June 30, 2010, PVN has restructured DQS. Regarding personnel, from more than 2,000 workers, it has been reorganized to more than 600 people, restructuring the market and production. Currently, the average income of workers is 10 million VND/month. From 2010 to now, the number of ships repaired, built, and converted by DQS is 182 projects; of which, 68 are projects in the industry, 30 are foreign projects... Total revenue is over 8,000 billion VND; currently DQS is losing more than 2,600 billion VND, due to the previous handover phase. PVN has calculated the following options: Converting DQS valuation to auction assets; DQS bankruptcy plan according to the provisions of law; continue to restructure DQS or establish a new unit on the basis of transferring DQS's assets and human resources and liquidating existing ones. Emphasizing the important role of DQS in the value chain of the oil and gas industry, Mr. Hoang Quoc Vuong, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Board of Members of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, wishes to continue to maintain and improve the efficiency of DQS's operations, ensuring jobs for more than 600 workers. On that basis, PVN proposed to the competent authority a plan to continue restructuring DQS, proposing a number of investment and financial solutions to effectively restructure DQS in the coming time. At the meeting, representatives of ministries and branches analyzed the difficulties in handling the project, proposing detailed, specific and feasible solutions. Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises Nguyen Hoang Anh said that PVN had taken over the project in bankruptcy, but if we exclude the existing limitations from the previous stage, the project is operating well and has development potential. Therefore, we must be bold, dare to think, dare to do, have a special mechanism to restructure, and bring DQS out of the "matrix". Deputy Inspector General of the Government Bui Ngoc Lam expressed his support for DQS to improve, the most important thing is to analyze more clearly the output for the problem of ensuring that when capital is invested, it must be feasible. On the local side, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province Dang Van Minh highly appreciated the proposals of the delegates in the spirit of supporting the DQS restructuring plan. Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province hopes that relevant agencies will resolve the problem of DQS as soon as possible, not letting it persist. At the same time, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that the most feasible option is to maintain the operation of DQS in the direction of restructuring, retaining high-quality workers, for the development of the shipbuilding industry, and the orientation of developing the marine economy and regional economy in the future. Quang Ngai will create all conditions for DQS to recover and develop. At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai requested PVN and the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises to absorb the opinions of ministries, branches and localities, coordinate with ministries and branches to complete the plan for DQS to submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and report to the Politburo in June; ensure that the report and proposed plans must be honest, objective, complete, feasible and clear. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that DQS operates in an important field for developing the shipbuilding industry and developing the marine economy. However, the project was ineffective, the finances were unbalanced, and operations were extremely difficult, so it was handed over from Vinashin to PVN. Although the competent authorities are very concerned and direct, up to now, the progress of handling has not reached the set target.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai stated that based on the direction of the Politburo , the Prime Minister and current reality, to evaluate and propose options for DQS, only when there is no feasible option will bankruptcy be considered. Regarding the option of continuing to restructure DQS, if choosing this option, PVN must carefully assess the market situation, potential advantages, industry development orientation, product output to build a restructuring plan based on convincing grounds and arguments, carefully assess the impact of the options, minimize losses, and report for opinions on issues beyond their authority. The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries and branches, based on their functions and authority, to promptly resolve problems related to the project; continue to closely coordinate and support PVN Group and the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises to promptly complete the project. The Deputy Prime Minister requested PVN and the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises to submit to the Prime Minister a plan to handle DQS by May 15, 2023. On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and the working delegation visited DQS's production workshops, wharf areas, and ship repair and painting facilities.

Pham Cuong (Vietnam News Agency)