Vietnam had 44,740 newly registered companies in the first five months of 2016, marking a 23.1 percent rise on-year, according to Business Registration Management Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment).
Total additional registered capital in the first five months of 2016 totaled VND1,005 trillion ($44.9 billion), whereby new companies contributed VND349.5 trillion, equivalent to a 59.3 percent hike. This translates to an average of VND7.8 billion per new company, up 28.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
Real estate led the way with 1,076 newly registered companies, a 121.4 percent rise compared to the same period last year. It's followed by healthcare with 198 new companies (up 81.7 percent) and education and training with 993 new companies (up 44.3 percent).
Arts and entertainment, in contrast, is a minor sector which saw a fall in the number of new companies to only 583, down 26.5 percent on-year.
Real estate also came in first in terms of registered capital, totaling VND86 trillion (up 456.3 percent on-year). Information and communications registered over VND15 trillion (up 383.2 percent), while science, technology; consultancy, design, advertising and other sectors registered nearly VND30 trillion (up 143.1 percent).
Industries which saw a slump in registered capital on-year include arts and entertainment, VND1.7 trillion in total, down 42.2 percent; and construction, VND48 trillion, down 26.9 percent.
Newly registered companies employed 531,900 people in the first five months, a 2.6 percent rise from the same period last year. Manufacturing and processing took the lead with new companies employing 254,455 people; followed by retail, wholesale and automobile and motorbike repair with 96,338; construction had 48,407; and logistics 25,144.