Report: Vietnam National Shipping Lines to reduce port holdings

Vinalines will trim its share holdings in the ports of Haiphong and Saigon in Vietnam as well as sell stakes in others at the behest of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, according to local media reports.    Vietnam’s official state news agency says Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has told Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) to divest itself entirely from several seaports and companies and retain 20 percent in the ports of Haiphong and Saigon in Vietnam.
   Vinalines “must sell all its shares in the ports of Khuyen Luong, Da Nang, Vinalines – Dinh Vu, and Cam Ranh, in addition to Nghe Tinh, Can Tho, and two companies, High Technology Transport Limited Company and Cai Lan Port Joint Stock Company,” the Vietnam News Agency reported.
   At the same time, Vinalines’ stakes in the Saigon Port Company Limited located in Ho Chi Minh City and the Haiphong Port Company Limited in the northern part of the country will be slashed to 20 percent of the registered capital of each of these companies.
   The news agency said Vinalines was previously permitted to hold 50 percent to 65 percent of the Saigon port’s charter capital and 65 percent to 75 percent of Haiphong port’s capital, but “this had made the two firms less attractive to investors.”