Vietnam's Move to Publish Earnings Hailed

 HANOI - Mired¹ by mismanagement and debt, state-owned enterprises are the bane of the Vietnamese economy. But a recent move to publicize earnings² is being hailed as a revolutionary step towards reform. 

When Vietnamese police issued an arrest warrant for the former chairman of a state-owned shipping³ and port operator, many observers were not surprised.  

In a country dogged with high inflation and food prices, most people blame economic woes⁴ on debt-ridden state-owned enterprises that make up 40 percent of economic output.

The Communist Party has long promised to reform wasteful⁵ state-owned enterprises, but a new plan to publish annual earnings could be the long anticipated catalyst⁶ for change.

U.N. Development Program policy adviser⁷ Jairo Acu?a-Alfaro was optimistic.

“All of the major corruption⁸ scandals that you have heard in the past two years have come from state-owned enterprises," said Acu?a-Alfaro. "I think it is the most concrete and significant sign from the government that they really want to address these problems.”

The details of the regulation are still in discussion. Economists¹⁰ said companies must publish their earnings and also change how their executives are hired.

Economist⁹ Le Dang Doanh said bosses appointed by the government are not hired on merit. They are not committed to targets on profit or improvements of productivity that give them little incentive¹¹ to boost performance, he said. 

“As long as there [are] no independent forces or independent auditing¹² or control, it is more or less a black box," Doanh said. "They are cooking their own data, cooking their own books, and it is unclear.”

Observers said some of the problems come when companies branch into unfamiliar¹³ new businesses.

Shipbuilder Vinashin pumped money into businesses as diverse as tourism and brewing¹⁴ beer. Up until recently, oil company Petrovietnam was pursuing real estate plans, and the chairman of Vietnam Electricity was recently fired for investing in mobile-phone networks.

Acu?a-Alfaro said problems of performance and the influence of political connections can be solved through assessments¹⁵ by independent auditors¹⁶.

“If those audits¹⁷ are disclosed then you are going to have information on who is dealing¹⁸ with these state-owned enterprises and what type of deals have been made," Acu?a-Alfaro said. "So this is going to help address these problems and we can identify who is doing business with whom.”

The government’s announced move for more accountability from the state-owned enterprises follows the trial of the former chairman of state-run Vinashin, Pham Thanh Binh, who received a 20-year jail sentence for flaunting¹⁹ regulations on investment, costing the state tens of millions of dollars.

Consultant²⁰ Jeff Browne, who works with American firms who wish to do business in Vietnam, said “Vietnam has been sending a message to its other executives at state-owned companies. Obviously this kind of government prosecution²¹, from last year Vinashin, this year Vinalines, is sending a message to all the people who are working for the government who are running companies."

He said the arrests also help accelerate the move towards privatization of some of these companies so that both domestic and foreign investors²² can share in the ownership of Vietnam’s economy.

Browne said the government and party want to compete on a global stage and grow into a strong economy like South Korea, and even Japan.

“In order to do that there is an understanding that the old ways of doing business need to change," said Browne. "At the same time the old ways of doing business are very deeply rooted in the business culture so it is going to take time, there is no question about that.”

In the face of double-digit inflation and rising food prices last year, the government was forced to rethink its growth strategy by raising interest rates. The result of that has been markedly slower growth.

As investment stalls, pressure has mounted on state-owned enterprises to improve their performance. This pressure does not just come from the government, said economist Doanh.

“People are quite angry. People are very unhappy about that because you can see the living of the people are now very difficult," Doanh said. "The hospitals are very overcrowded, and if they realize that big money has been wasted while there are no new hospitals and no sufficient investment in education and health care they are very unhappy.”

Analysts²³ agree the Vietnamese public and foreign investors want to see progress in action, not just on paper. Any appraisal²⁴ of how effective the regulation can be in tackling burdensome state-owned enterprises will have to wait until that action is taken.

1 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

5 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

6 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

12 auditing   

n.审计，查账，决算

参考例句：

• Auditing standards are the rules governing how an audit is performed.收支检查标准是规则统治一个稽核如何被运行。
• The auditing services market is dominated by a few large accounting firms.审计服务市场被几家大型会计公司独占了。

13 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

14 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

15 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

16 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

17 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

18 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

19 flaunting   

adj.招摇的，扬扬得意的，夸耀的v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的现在分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来

参考例句：

• He did not believe in flaunting his wealth. 他不赞成摆阔。
• She is fond of flaunting her superiority before her friends and schoolmates. 她好在朋友和同学面前逞强。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

21 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

22 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

23 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

24 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。