Nearly 26,500 enterprises were created in the first quarter of this year with a total registered capital of over VND270 trillion (US$11.8 billion), according to preliminary data reported on Monday in Ha Noi by the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Enterprises Development Department.

The number of newly-established firms rose 11.4 per cent and 45.8 per cent in capital value compared to the same period last year, the department reported. In March alone, the number of newly-registered firms is estimated at over 12,000, the highest level in six years.

But in the first quarter, some 9,900 enterprises temporarily ceased operations, 10,700 enterprises are in the process of filing for dissolution, nearly 3,700 enterprises have completed procedures for dissolution or termination, up 12 per cent year-on-year. The majority of businesses that withdrew from the market are small firms.

Many firms suspended their activities in order to find new directions or prepare new business plans, said Tran Ngoc Nam, deputy director of the Ha Noi Department of Planning and Investment.

According to the Enterprises Development Department, the average registered capital per enterprise in the first quarter of 2017 reached VND10.2 billion, up 30.9 per cent over the same period of 2016.

Existing businesses have registered to increase their capital to over VND320 trillion, bringing total capital poured into the economy in the first quarter of 2017 to nearly VND600 trillion, up 8 per cent year-on-year.

The number of businesses resuming operations exceeded 9,200 in the first quarter of 2017, double the number in the first quarter of 2014. More than 90 per cent out of some 110,000 businesses registered in 2016 declared and paid taxes, indicating that they were already in operation, the department said. — VNS