Business is going bad, who cut the salary of the state-owned enterprise boss?

- If profits are low, but costs and prices have to bear the high salaries of state-owned enterprise leaders, then those salaries must be reduced - Deputy Chairman of the Economic Committee Nguyen Van Phuc discussed with VietNamNet on the sidelines of the National Assembly meeting on the afternoon of November 18.

- After the incident of leaders of 4 public utility companies in Ho Chi Minh City receiving huge salaries, the public is very interested in the story of the salaries of leaders of state-owned enterprises. The issue they are concerned about is whether the high salaries are commensurate with the performance of the enterprise and the personal responsibility of the leader. What is your opinion?

Such public concern is very correct because reality has proven that not only that incident but also previously, through audits, leaders of some state-owned enterprises received very high salaries.

That salary, first of all, is not commensurate with the economy. Second, it is not commensurate with the efficiency of the business itself.

In my opinion, we need to review and rectify. First, we need to review the legal regulations on salaries for heads of state-owned enterprises. Like other enterprises, if profits are high, the income can be corresponding, but if losses are still high, it is clearly unacceptable.

Deputy Chairman of the Economic Committee Nguyen Van Phuc. Photo: Minh Thang

The bigger issue is social justice. The Prime Minister reported to the National Assembly his salary, while the salary of a General Director of a State-owned enterprise is like that, his contributions compared to the Prime Minister who is in charge of the whole economy, is that right?

Even within the state, there is also fairness between the administrative sector and the production and business sector, between state-owned enterprises in different fields, between leaders and direct workers... Inequality will not create motivation to encourage areas that need development such as production, but only focus on service areas such as finance, banking..., leading to an imbalanced allocation of capital and human resources.

- So how can we accurately check their salaries and incomes?

The primary responsibility for this lies with the Government and ministries, who propose and submit draft laws and monitor and implement them.

Each business must have its own principles and criteria that link production and business efficiency to salaries. If profits are low, but costs and prices must bear the high salaries of leaders, then those salaries must be reduced.

We are currently restructuring state-owned enterprises, including restructuring production, business, human resources, finance... All of which will lead to the responsibility of the leader.

The modern way of managing state-owned enterprises, which has been widely applied in the world, is to assign the selection of the head of the state-owned enterprise to the board of directors, so that they can decide on the salary and use of that head, which will solve the problem. It should not follow the current appointment method.

The Economic Committee, when examining the National Assembly's resolution on socio-economic development in 2014, also requested transparency in the operations of state-owned enterprises, including salaries and incomes, including standards, norms, regimes and salary levels.

For workers, salary is a private matter. But for leaders, it must be transparent, because it is not their business, it is a matter of interest.

According to (Vietnam.net)