A worker produces ceramic and pottery products. Business confidence is expected to improve on continued reform effort (Photo: kinhtevadubao.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Business confidence isexpected to improve in 2017, following the Government’s hastened reform effortsaiming to create momentum for firms and boost start-up entrepreneurship.
After a year of record firm foundations, whichis considered a silver lining although the country failed to meet its growthtarget, the Government signaled ongoing determination to improve the businessclimate and national competitiveness this year.
“I believe that business confidence willstrengthen and help boost economic growth,” said Tran Thi Hong Minh, Directorof the Business Registration Department under the Ministry of Planning andInvestment.
Convenience in setting up firms - such as freeonline business registration from the beginning of this year - will promoteprivate investments into the economy, Minh said.
According to the General Statistics Office,8,990 new firms were founded in January with a total registered capital of 90.3trillion VND (4.01 billion USD), representing increases by 8.1 percent and 52.3percent, respectively, over the same month of last year. Registered capitalaveraged 10 billion VND, a whopping rise of 40.9 percent.
Existing firms registered to increase capital bya total of 114.6 trillion VND in January, statistics showed. In addition, over5,560 firms resumed operation, up by 14.2 percent.
The reform effort is being geared up across manysectors. Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said that finance-related policieswill continue to promote private investment and business foundation, especiallystart-ups.
Dung added that the ministry will focus onissuing policies which will encourage the application of technologies to createhigh-added value products.
The number of new firms hit a record of morethan 110,000 in 2016, two years since the amended laws on Enterprise andInvestment came into force.
The ministry’s statistics showed that it nowtook an average of only 2.9 days to handle procedures for setting up a firm.All business registration status is now updated on a national informationsystem.
However, new firms are mainly of small andmedium sizes with the average registered capital of around 8 billion VND.
“It is critical to improve the climate to createcondition for businesses to grow,” Minh said.
Tran Dinh Thien, Director of the VietnamInstitute of Economics said that the record number of 110,000 new firms in 2016was just a number. “It is more important how to develop strong privatecompanies in the next five years, which will become the backbone of theeconomy,” he said.-VNA
VNA
