Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) scored a confidence level of 150 points, a rise of 19 points over six months ago and the highest in Asia, according to the latest HSBC emerging market SME business confidence monitor.

The survey, which reflects the views of 3,400 SMEs in 12 markets across Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, reported that 62 percent of Vietnamese SMEs believe the growth of the domestic GDP will improve.

Fifty-eight percent said that they will increase their capital investment while 49 percent said their recruitment would increase.

Forty percent said the Government’s policies and measures are among the major factors fuelling Vietnam’s economic recovery, while 28 percent cited the recovery of the regional and world economies.

The Vietnamese economy rebounded in the second quarter of 2009 thanks to the government’s stimulus packages and interest rate subsidies for SMEs, encouraging them to increase their capital investment and personnel, Huynh Buu Quang, Head of Commercial Banking of HSBC Vietnam said./.