Vietnam will equitize its biggest state commercial bank, the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, in 2006, local newspaper People reported Saturday.

Under the government's plan, the bank will make share issues for several times next year, and continue to do this annually until 2010. But each issue cannot exceed 10 percent of its registered capital.

The equitization process aims to ensure the state will still retain a controlling stake in the bank, which is set at a minimum of 70 percent in 2006 and 51 percent in 2010.

Institutional investors and individual ones cannot own more than 10 percent and 5 percent of the bank's registered capital, respectively, while the combined foreign holdings cannot exceed 30 percent, said the decision.

Vietnam, which has equitized 2,540 state-owned enterprises (SOE) since 1992, has targeted to restructure 1,154 SOEs from 2005 to mid-2006, including 1,024 enterprises slated for equitization.

Source: Xinhua