Majority of domestic firms to expand business in 2016

Hanoi (VNA) - Around 80 percent 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 Vietnam Report and online newspaper VietnamNet on February 24.

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

This has been considered a vital development trend as Vietnam'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 percent of the businesses also proposed to further enhance administrative reforms and reducing interest rate.

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 Vietnam. 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.-VNA