Viet Nam saw an increase in the number of new enterprises and their registered capital in the first five months of 2018 due to improving business conditions.

This was reported by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

According to MPI’s Business Registration Management Agency, the number of newly established enterprises in the first five months rose by 3.5 per cent year-on-year to 52,322 units, with a total registered capital of VND516.9 trillion (US$22.7 billion).

The capital increased by 6.4 per cent compared to the same period last year due to improving business conditions and registration procedure, the agency said.

The average capital for an enterprise reached VND9.9 billion, a year-on-year surge of 2.8 per cent.

New enterprises have focused on sectors such as wholesale and retail, repair of cars and motorcycles, processing and manufacturing as well as construction.

Twelve sectors saw an increase in newly established enterprises in the first five months. The real estate trading sector had the highest growth in the number of new enterprises at 41.1 per cent. The sector also saw the highest development in registered capital of new firms, accounting for some 29 per cent of the total registered capital.

Sectors such as electricity production and distribution, real estate trading, finance-banking and mining led in terms of average registered capital per enterprise.

Meanwhile, in the first five months of this year, 13,267 enterprises resumed operations, a year-on-year reduction of 1.4 per cent, while 15,974 enterprises temporarily stopped their operations, a year-on-year increase of 24 per cent. — VNS