A worker operates a machine at a PVC pipe factory in Binh Dinh province's An Nhon town. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

HA NOI  (Biz Hub) — More than 5,000 businesses became operational again in the first quarter of this year, posting a 10 per cent year-on-year increase.

This showed that the economy had recovered and presented investment and trading opportunities for firms in difficulty, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

During the three-month period, Viet Nam saw over 19,000 newly-established enterprises starting business, with a total investment of VND111.2 trillion (US$5.19 billion), up 4 per cent and 13.5 per cent in terms of their count and registered capital, respectively.

GSO's data also revealed that in March, 5,238 new firms were established, with a total registered capital of VND33.7 trillion ($1.57 billion), representing a 23 per cent year-on-year slump.

The reason for this was that the last month of the quarter fell after the Tet holiday period, which did not see many new business activities and was marked by low demand due to a high inventory, GSO said.

The average registered capital for each company was VND5.8 billion ($271 million) in March.

These businesses employed 265,000 labourers, 3.6 per cent higher than the previous month.

The entertainment sector posted a higher growth in newly registered capital with a 12 per cent increase; the property trading sector grew 48 per cent and agro-forestry and fisheries reported a 36 per cent jump in growth.

In the period, more than 16,000 businesses were either dissolved or suspended operations, increasing 14 per cent from a year ago.

Most of the businesses were small-scale firms, with a charter capital of less than VND10 billion ($467,000).

Of these, over 2,500 firms were completely dissolved, reflecting a 0.6 per cent year-on-year decrease. — VNS