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Public Administration vocabulary · Ministries and Agencies

State-owned enterprise

Meaning in public administration, with examples

nounCommon term

In public administration, state-owned enterprise means: A company owned or controlled by the state that carries out commercial activities, such as running railways, ports, mines or energy networks.

In Turkish: kamu iktisadi teşebbüsü (KİT), kamu şirketi, devlet işletmesi

How it is used

Often shortened to SOE in reports by the OECD, IMF and World Bank. SOEs may be privatised, restructured or corporatised, and governments set rules for how they are governed. In Turkey the closest term is KİT (kamu iktisadi teşebbüsü).

Example sentences

  1. The state-owned enterprise reported a profit for the first time in five years.

  2. State-owned enterprises must publish audited accounts every year.

Common collocations

  • state-owned enterprise reform
  • privatise a state-owned enterprise
  • governance of state-owned enterprises
  • large state-owned enterprise
  • public sectorThe part of the economy owned, funded or run by the state, including ministries, agencies, local authorities, state schools and hospitals, and state-owned companies.
  • government agencyA public organization set up to carry out a specific task, such as collecting taxes, issuing licences or managing roads, often with some independence from the ministry above it.
  • public utilityAn essential service supplied through a network, such as water, electricity, gas or sewerage, or the organization that provides it, whether publicly or privately owned.
  • public-private partnershipA long-term contract in which a private company finances, builds or runs public infrastructure or services, such as roads, hospitals or water plants, and shares the risks with the state.

More terms: Ministries and Agencies

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