Proposal: PPP Project Enterprises May Issue Bonds Without Being Profitable

Proposal: PPP project enterprises may issue bonds to the public without needing to be profitable

Hoang Dong Monday, 05/18/2026 - 10:28

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The Ministry of Finance is drafting a decree governing the offering of bonds to the public by enterprises implementing PPP projects.

The proposal to allow PPP enterprises to issue bonds aims to ensure capital raising to serve infrastructure investment for economic development. Photo: Hoang Anh.

Under the draft, bonds issued by enterprises implementing PPP projects (the public–private partnership form) are non-convertible bonds, without warrants, and are required to have payment guarantees.

If an enterprise is not yet eligible to operate and exploit the PPP works, the bonds will have the entire principal and interest balance guaranteed by a bank, credit institution, financial institution or eligible guarantor.

For PPP projects already eligible for operation, enterprises may use assets, land-use rights or the right to operate the infrastructure works to secure the bond issuance. These assets must be appraised for value and registered as secured transactions in accordance with the law.

A special point, according to the Ministry of Finance’s proposal, is that enterprises implementing PPP projects are not bound by a minimum operating period or the requirement to have positive profit as ordinary enterprises are.

This is consistent with the reality that some enterprises are established solely to carry out a specific PPP project, with a long investment horizon and large capital needs right from the outset.

Even so, bonds will only be issued if the enterprise has signed a PPP contract in accordance with the law, and the amount of capital raised does not exceed the borrowing limit.

Funds raised from the bond issuance may only be used to implement the PPP project or to restructure the debt of the issuing enterprise itself. Before disbursement, the enterprise may only deposit the funds at banks or invest in safe assets such as government bonds and certificates of deposit.

The Ministry of Finance also proposes to ensure the bond-repayment capacity of PPP project enterprises by requiring that no dividends or profit distributions be made if due payment obligations have not been fulfilled. In addition, funds used to repay bonds will be managed separately from other cash flows.

On the other hand, PPP enterprises issuing bonds will have to periodically disclose information on project implementation progress, credit ratings and factors that could affect their ability to repay bond debt. Unusual information related to cash flow and collateral assets must be disclosed within 24 hours.

The Ministry of Finance said the proposal to allow enterprises implementing PPP projects to issue bonds aims to facilitate the mobilization of socialized capital to serve large infrastructure projects while still ensuring risk control for bond investors.

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Source: TheLeader — theleader.vn. This article is republished to share knowledge with the community of founders and investors in the HCM VIF ecosystem.