According to the Ministry of Labour, some Vietnamese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) pay employees three to four times more than other SOEs.

Public companies in forestry, coffee, textiles and garments offer $116 a month to their workers while peers in oil and gas, post and telecoms, finance and banking, and construction pay an average monthly wage of $389.

Similar differences apply to higher levels, with some directors in more advantaged sectors receiving as much as $1,920.

The country now has over 1,300 fully SOEs. The Vietnamese government plans to boost equitisation of SOEs and to divest State stakes in those less important State-turned-shareholding firms.  

573 SOEs will be equitised in the next few years according to Pham Viet Muon, vice chair of the Enterprise Reform and Development Steering Committee. 

"The State sector plays a pivotal role in economic regulation and macro-economic stabilisation. The State-owned enterprises would be restructured to assume their roles in the economy," he recently said.