International Workshop on Corporate Governance of State-owned Enterprises Concludes in Hanoi
The workshop on Corporate Governance of State-owned Enterprises, jointly organized by the Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC) and Vietnam Institute of Financial Training (IFT), concluded in Hanoi, Vietnam on November 29, 2011. About 150 delegates from Vietnam Ministry of Finance, Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment, major Vietnamese state-owned enterprises (SOE), the World Bank Office in Vietnam and Malaysian Directors Academy participated in the event.
SOE Reform and corporate governance are common problems for the economic development of the transitional economies. Due to similarities of political and economic systems between China and Vietnam, the Vietnamese government is keen to learn from China’s experience with regard to SOE reform and governance. The Vietnamese government attached great importance to the workshop. Vice finance minister of Vietnam, Mr. Tran Van Hieu also participated in the workshop. 
The Chinese resource persons from the Development Research Center of the State Council, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Baosteel Group Corporation introduced China’s experience of SOE reform and corporate governance from the perspectives of government, academia and industry respectively. The presentations of Chinese experience received warm welcome from the government and Vietnam’s SOEs.
Ms. Victoria Kwakwa, Country Director of the World Bank, stated in her opening speech that China’s experience in its economic growth and the practices for SOE reform in particular is extremely instructive to other developing economies. She also suggested that Vietnamese SOE learn from their Chinese counterparts to boost Vietnam’s SOE reform and enhance corporate governance.
Mr. Tran Van Hieu also delivered a speech on behalf of the Vietnamese government, saying that SOE reform is one of the major tasks for next stage of Vietnam economic reform, and hoped that the international institutions, particularly the Chinese experts may contribute their views and suggestions to Vietnam SOE reform.
The workshop was broadcast to the public by Vietnam national TV station through Vietnamese and English channels.
This is the fourth training workshop the AFDC organized for Vietnamese finance officials in 2011 and the 11th face-to-face training since the launch of the China-Vietnam capacity building program between AFDC and IFT in 2008. 
On the sidelines of the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh, Vice Finance Minister of Vietnam, met with the AFDC delegation and the Chinese experts to express their gratitude for China’s support and cooperation on organizing so many important training events over the years. The knowledge and experience learned from these events, not only helped build the capacity of their finance officials, but also served as good references for their economic reform and development, said Ms. Nguyen.
