Vietnam's new business registration down 5.5%

Over 4,000 enterprises were established in February in Vietnam, a 5.5 percent year-on-year decrease with a total registered capital of 19.18 trillion Vietnamese dong (909 million U.S. dollars), said Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on Tuesday. The number of newly established businesses and the registered capital in February posted a dramatic decline of 42 and 56 percent over January, respectively, according to MPI's Business Registration Department. The sharp reduction of newly established enterprises was attributed to the country's long Lunar New Year holiday at the beginning of February, said the department. In the first two months of 2014, the number of new Vietnamese enterprises and the registered capital were higher than the same period of 2013. More than 10,800 registrations of new firms were recorded in Vietnam in two-month period, with a total registered capital of 62. 9 trillion Vietnamese dong (some 3 billion U.S. dollars), presenting a year-on-year increase of 13 percent in enterprise number and 28 percent in capital amount, respectively. During January-February period, the total number of enterprises that had dissolved or halted operations was 13,124 units, an increase of 12.2 percent year-on-year. The figures showed that Vietnamese businesses are facing difficult conditions, said the department.