There are 5,584 firms established in February. — Illustrative image/File Photo

The new firms registered a total capital of VND113 trillion (US$5.13 billion), up 45.8 per cent year-on-year. Further, average registered capital of a new firm reached VND9.6 billion, up 44.9 per cent year-on-year.

GSO estimated that these new firms created jobs for 198,500 local residents in this period, up 0.7 per cent year-on-year.

During the first two months of the year, 7,416 firms also resumed operations, up 69.5 per cent against the same period last year.

However, the number of firms that have either declared a temporary suspension or shut down operations in the first two months was also high.

During these months, companies that declared a temporary suspension numbered 16,471, up 17.3 per cent year-on-year.

The number of enterprises that completed disclosure procedures and shut down operations also rose 6.8 per cent to 2,195. Most of these firms were small-sized, with registered capital of less than VND10 billion each.

Last year, more than 94,750 businesses were established, with registered capital of VND601.5 trillion, up 26.6 per cent and 39.1 per cent over 2014, respectively. However, last year also saw more than 9,400 firms dissolved and shut down, inching down 0.4 per cent year-on-year.

According to a recently released GSO survey, many businesses active in the processing and manufacturing industry have been more optimistic about prospects in 2016 thanks to improvements in the final months of last year. Nearly 41 per cent of respondents said they hope for better prospects this year, than seen in the final quarter of last year.

Further, up to 91.1 per cent of respondents were hopeful that the number of new orders will rise or remain stable this year.

To conduct more effective business and production this year, GSO director general Nguyen Bich Lam said the Government should offer incentive policies on credit, funds and market information access to encourage start-up firms. — VNS