Topcare company closes its electronics store at No 335 Cau Giay Street along with two other stores in Ha Noi. According to the General Statistics Office, more than 16,000 businesses were either dissolves or suspended operations in the first two months of this year. — Photo zing.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — More than 16,000 businesses were either dissolved or suspended operations during the first two months of this year, said the General Statistics Office.

Of these, over 2,000 firms were completely dissolved, reflecting an 8.7 per cent year-on-year increase, while 14,000 companies suspended operations, the number depicting a 25 per cent rise over the same period last year.

Most of these businesses were small-scale, with charter capital of less than VND10 billion (US$467,300).

Last month, the country registered nearly 6,900 new enterprises, with a total registered capital of VND45.8 trillion ($2.1 billion), up 0.47 per cent and 44.6 per cent, in terms of numbers and capital, respectively.

The average registered capital for each company was pegged at VND6.6 billion ($308,400) in February, representing a 43.5 per cent increase over the previous month.

These businesses employed 93,600 labourers, 9.5 per cent lower than January.

More than 1,500 firms also backed operations, posting a 47 per cent decrease.

During the two-month period, the country saw the establishment of around 13,800 new businesses, with total capital of VND77.5 trillion ($3.6 billion), or a 26 per cent year-on-year growth in terms of the number of newly established firms.

The number of newly established firms in some sectors, including art and entertainment, rose by 241 per cent; 88 per cent in real-estate; 58 per cent in agriculture, forestry and seafood; 55 per cent in finance, banking and insurance and 50 per cent in construction.

The average registered capital for each company during the two-month period was down 3.4 per cent to VND5.6 billion against the corresponding period last year.

The expected number of labourers was 197,200, posting a 19 per cent year-on-year increase.

More than 4,300 businesses backed to operations in the first two months of the year.

Experts said the figures showed that the economy was seeing improvement. — VNS