The country's index of industrial production (IIP) saw a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percent in the first nine months of the year, signalling a promising sign in the economic slowdown.

In September alone the IIP is estimated to have increased 5.6 percent over last September, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The Index is calculated using four groups: the mineral exploitation, processing and manufacturing industry, electricity production and distribution, water supply, and waste management and disposal.

The IIP in mineral exploitation this month is estimated to decrease 5.1 percent from the previous year, while the processing and manufacturing sector shows an 8.5 percent increase. The two sectors have a large impact on the overall IIP.

Electricity production and distribution, as well as water supply industries, saw surges of 9.4 percent and 11.2 percent respectively.

The MPI also revealed that more than 42,000 businesses closed down or suspended their operation in the January-September period.

The ministry said in the nine-month period, of that figure, 6,700 enterprises dissolved completely, a 2 percent decrease over the same period last year.

However, the number of firms suspending operations rose 13 percent against the same period last year, reaching 35,700.

It said the figures show that the economic situation is difficult.

The country saw 11,300 businesses resume operation between January and September, an encouraging result for the economy.

As many as 4,000 of these enterprises were involved in wholesale, retail, and auto and motorbike repair, 1,900 were in construction and 1,600 in manufacturing.

The MPI indicated that the country established 19,300 new companies in the third quarter of this year with total registered capital of 87.8 trillion VND (4.18 billion USD), a decrease of 17 percent in the number and 23 percent in capital over the previous quarter.

The total number of newly established firms for the first nine months of the year was 58,200 with capital of 281.3 trillion VND (13.3 billion USD), an 11 percent increase in term of quantity but a 22 percent decrease in capital from last year.-VNA