More than 85,350 firms were established in the first eight months of this year with total registered capital of VND822 trillion (US$36 billion), statistics of the Business Registration Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed.

These figures represented a rise of 16.3 per cent in the number of new firms and an increase of 44.8 per cent in registered capital over the same period last year.

Notably, average capital for a business rose 24.5 per cent over the same period last year to reach VND9.6 billion.

The department said the foundation of new businesses increased in most sectors, especially real estate (up by 65.8 per cent); finance, banking and insurance (up by 33.4 per cent); education and training (up by 30 per cent); and healthcare (up by 29.6 per cent).

The only sector witnessing a decline in the number of new firms was transport and warehousing.

More than 19,150 firms resumed operation in the eight-month period, increasing slightly by 2.4 per cent over the same period last year.

However, 45,770 firms temporarily halted operation in the period, a rise of 13.3 per cent. More than 7,750 firms completed dissolving procedures, 92 per cent of which had registered capital of below VND10 billion each. — VNS