HANOI, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese government has allowed national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to sell 10-20 percent of its share to foreign strategic partners, Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.

    The state will retain a stake of 70-80 percent. The airline during its equitization process will maintain the present state capital and issue shares to increase its charter capital.

    Vietnam Airlines has been implementing its equitization procedures, including selection of a financial consultant, design of an equitization plan, inventory of assets and auditing. It will soon present the selection of a financial consultant to the government.

    The carrier plans to serve 9 million passengers this year, up 12.5 percent against last year, despite the harsh competition in both the domestic and international markets.

    It transported eight million passengers and earned revenues of roughly 20.4 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, up 18 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively, over 2006.