According to a number of newspaper reports in 2007, the Vietnamese government planned to partly privatize Vietnam Airlines. In the plan, the government considered selling 20–30% of the airline's stake to outsiders, with the government holding the balance. This was a small part of a bigger proposal by the government to privatize its state-owned companies, due to be completed by 2010. Vietnam authorized the plan the following year; however, the plan was not carried out as the airline missed its deadline scheduled by the government, which was arranged for 2010, due to the Global Financial Crisis.