Workers place animal feed bags on a conveyor at the Phu Gia Agricultural Products JSC in the central province of Thanh Hoa. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Only 39 per cent of Vietnamese adults saw opportunities in doing business, while 58 per cent of the people thought they had the capacity to do business.

More than a half of Vietnamese adults are overcome by the fear of failure while starting a business, much higher than any other country in the region.

The report, which was announced at the National Entrepreneurship Forum held by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Ha Noi yesterday, also revealed that 23 out of 100 people gave up midway through their business.

The VCCI cited health problems, financial difficulties, and profit issue as the main reasons why people closed down their business. Finding other business opportunities and jobs is also one of the factors.

Luong Minh Huan from the VCCI's Institute for Entrepreneur Development said to reduce stress among business aspirants, the Government should create a business environment, while increasing training modules in various course curriculums on how to start a business.

The report also revealed that although public awareness of business abilities and opportunities in Viet Nam last year was higher than that of 2013, it was still low.

Huan said Vietnamese entrepreneurs had been given consideration (76 per cent) and 67 per cent adults dreamed to become an entrepreneur.

Young people in the age group of 18-34 perceived business as a worse field than middle-aged people (35-64 years old), as the young were more afraid of failure.

However, young people had more ideas for starting a business than middle-aged people.

According to the report, the rate of launching start-up businesses in Viet Nam in 2014 was two per cent, lower than four per cent in 2013 and much lower than the average of 12.4 per cent in developed countries.

More than 18 per cent of Vietnamese adults planned to start a business in the next three years, lower than the average rate of 40 per cent in developed countries.

Business activities in Viet Nam mainly focused on consumers, accounting for 89 per cent of the total. — VNS