Many businesses predict that the Viet Nam's trade in 2014 will be better than or equal to trade in 2013.— Photo baodatviet.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Five hundred enterprises have been listed as having had the fastest growth in Viet Nam in 2013.

The FAST 500 Ranking Lists 2013, drawn up annually since 2011, was announced by the Vietnam Report and online newspaper Vietnamnet on February 18. The list is based on independent research and assessment of Vietnam Report JSC. It complies with international standards and was drawn up in consultation with domestic and foreign experts.

The FAST 500 rankings are also based on international standards including the models of the Inc 500, Fortune 500 and Deloitte 500.

This is the fourth consecutive year of the FAST 500 list in Viet Nam. The performance of the companies was calculated by the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) on revenue in the 2009-12 period and also based on criteria such as total assets, the number of workers, after-tax profits and prestige in the media.

The top ten in the list are Intimex Nha Trang JSC, CNG Vietnam JSC, Phan Minh Investment Production Trading Services Company Ltd, Vinacommodities JSC, Petex Logistics JSC, Dap-Vinachem Company Ltd, Thanh Thanh Dat Company Ltd, Minh Hung Group, TVP Steel JSC and Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company. They got an average CAGR of 129.5 per cent in the 2009-12 period.

This year's FAST 500 enterprises had an average CAGR of 44.7 per cent in the 2009-12 period, compared with 62.2 per cent in the 2008-11 period.

The Vietnam report said that the FAST500 last year had lowest average CAGR since 2011.

As for localities, HCM City and Ha Noi again took the first and second position in the rankings, with 31 per cent and 21 per cent CAGR, respectively.

Private enterprises comprised more than 65 per cent of the list, double that of State-owned enterprises. The average CAGR of private enterprises was 50.3 per cent, while FDI businesses and State-owned enterprises got 43.8 per cent and 38.9 per cent respectively.

The food and drink sector had the highest number of businesses on the list at 18 per cent. It's followed by the construction and real estate sector with 16 per cent, petrol and oil with 9 per cent, finance with 8 per cent and the chemical industry with 7 per cent.

A Vietnam Report survey of corporate representatives in Viet Nam on the economic and business potential in 2014 showed that trade results in 2013 were better than in 2012.

Almost all the surveyed persons hoped that 2014 would end the long difficult period and begin a period of new growth. Eighty-eight per cent predicted that trade in 2014 will be better than or equal to trade in 2013.

The report said the change of view of the businesses was partly due to forecasts of a warming-up of the global economy as stated by the International Monetary Fund and a recent World Bank report on the potential of the global economy in 2014. In addition, the domestic economy had been managed with stability. Statistics from the Viet Nam General Statistics Office showed that the country had an inflation rate of 6.06 per cent in 2013, the lowest in the last decade, and a GDP of 5.42 per cent, compared with 5.25 per cent in 2012.

When asked what they hoped for from the Government this year, instead of asking for support through credit-support package or investment and tax preferences, almost all participants of the survey said they expected the Government to stabilise the macro economy and simplify administrative procedures to support them in the process of building a fair and equal competitive environment in the global economic integration.

The ceremony to announce the FAST 500 Ranking List 2013 will be held at the National Convention Centre in Ha Noi on April 4. — VNS