Although the Vietnamese economy is facing numerous difficulties, many businesses are said to have high hopes for their business activities in the second half of this year, the Vietnam Economic News reported on July 7.

Businesses estimated that their profits would increase by three points in the first six months of this year. Although the growth is modest, it shows progress in production and trading, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s survey of 800 outstanding businesses nationwide.

The survey also indicates that most domestic businesses felt good about the level of access to market information, technology and the demand in the international market. They also said it was easier to obtain loans in the first six months of this year as a result of lower interest rates and greater transparency to loan procedures.

Doan Thi Quyen from the VCCI’s Business Development Institute said that about 4.2 percent of businesses had to close in the first five months of the year compared with 7.6 percent in the same time last year. Fifty percent of closed businesses said that they had not found markets for their products and that the price of input materials remained high. However, they forecast that these factors would improve in the second half of the year.

Businesses also said that their total revenue growth increased from 0.3 points in the last six months of last year to eight points in the first six months of this year making them feel optimistic about increased employment in the short term.

The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences’ Centre for Analysis and Forecasting Director Nguyen Thang said that several macro economic factors would be affected in the last six months of this year, particularly investment, exports and imports, and the money market, which were likely to impact economic growth in the last half of the year.

The production costs in the first six months of this year increased against the last six months of last year. However, businesses expected that the growth would fall in the last six months of this year.

However, experts said that with timely response measures and effective implementation of newly-amended laws, it is expected that production and trading would help mitigating negative impact on our economy in the second half of this year.

Regarding specific measures for businesses, Nguyen Thi Hai Binh from the Ministry of Finance’s Institute of Strategy and Policy on Finance said that it was necessary for the state to help businesses win over new markets. Binh also noted that difficult businesses should be offered tax extension. Binh also recommended that businesses need to improve human capital, technology and seek to tap new potential markets .-VNA