The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has reported that 40,000 more businesses registered for establishment in the first six months of this year, representing a rise of 14 percent year on year despite declining production and consumption demand.

Though the number of new businesses increased markedly, their registered capital declined by 40 percent against the same period last year to stand at 170 trillion VND.

Ho Chi Minh City saw the largest number of newly-registered businesses with 10,925, with a combined registered capital of over 42 trillion VND. The figures represented 12.2 percent increase in number but nearly 50 percent drop in capital value, respectively, over the same period last year.

Among the new businesses, the number of private and state-owned enterprises decreased while that of one-member liability and joint stock companies soared sharply.

According to the MPI, the one-member liability companies posted surges of 212.7 percent and 325 percent in terms of number and registered capital against the same period last year. And, the joint stock companies soared 131.3 percent in number and 157.7 percent in registered capital.

Economic experts attributed those soars to streamlined registration procedures and flexibility of businesses in overcoming economic difficulties./.