HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Around 80 per cent of surveyed local enterprises planned to expand their production and business in 2016 due to prospects of international integration.

This was revealed in the FAST 500 Ranking Lists 2016, drawn up annually since 2011 which was announced by the Viet Nam Report and online newspaper VietnamNet yesterday.

Accordingly, over 22 per cent of the surveyed businesses would maintain their current operation while only 1.6 per cent planned to narrow their scale.

This has been considered a vital development trend as Viet Nam's economy witnesses a new growth phase after entry into Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), it said.

The survey also revealed that businesses would have three priorities including turnover and profit growth, cost reduction and introducing new products and services.

In addition, the TPP which will take effect in 2018 would offer opportunities for the economy in the future. The investment is expected to be higher while tariff barriers would be removed, creating more transparency. These factors are forecast to promote development, of businesses, especially small-and-medium sized enterprises.

However, the companies in the list should be careful while choosing their business plans, improving productivity, and quality to avoid hot growth trap, it said. The reality showed that several firms were in a hurry to increase investment and expand markets while they had not predicted the difficulties ahead.

The businesses in the list also expected a reduction in personal income tax to better support their operations.

More than 70 per cent of the businesses also proposed to further enhance administrative reforms and reducing interest rate.

The list is based on independent research and assessment of Viet Nam 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 2009-2012 period and also based on criteria such as total assets, the number of workers, after-tax profits and prestige in the media.

Top 10 of FAST500

1. An Long Food JSC

2. Advanced Network Systems Viet Nam Co., Ltd

3. HCM City Petroleum Co., Ltd

4. FLC Group JSC

5. Novaland Group JSC

6. Hoa Binh Co., Ltd

7. Tuan Loc Construction Investment JSC

8. Power Generation Corporation (EVNGENCO 2)

9. PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 JSC

10. European Plastic JSC