Number of new firms up 36 percent in May

The total registered capital last month was VND112.7 trillion ($4.84 billion), up 20.1 percent against April.

The country has seen 48,300 new companies established in the first five months this year with a registered capital of VND557 trillion ($23.94 billion), a year-on-year drop of 10.5 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

Along with VND817.4 trillion ($35.1 billion) in additional capital for existing companies, the total registered capital added to the economy in the first five months reached VND1.375 quadrillion ($59 billion), down 17 percent year-on-year.

As many as 928 new enterprises were established in electricity, water and gas production and distribution in the period, a 95 percent year-on-year surge. A similar surge was seen in the number of agriculture, forestry and fisheries firms with 794 new enterprises established. Since both clusters are part of essential industries, they were less affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first five months, Vietnam also saw 21,700 enterprises resume operations while 26,000 suspended theirs, for respective year-on-year increases of 10.5 percent and 36.4 percent. Nearly 6,100 businesses completed procedures for bankruptcy during the same period, a drop of 4.8 percent year-on-year.

The number of newly established businesses in the country had hit a new record at 138,100 last year, a 5.2 percent increase over 2018.