Đồng Tâm’s brick factory in Tây Ninh Province. — Photo vnexpress.net

HÀ NỘI — Nearly 80 per cent of manufacturing and processing enterprises anticipate that business conditions in the third quarter will remain stable or improve, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Findings from a recent business sentiment survey conducted by the NSO under the Ministry of Finance show that 37.3 per cent of businesses expect better performance in Q3, while 43.5 per cent forecast steady operations. About 19.2 per cent believe difficulties will persist.

Foreign-invested enterprises remain the most optimistic, with 81 per cent predicting stable or improved conditions. The proportion stands at 79.8 per cent for State-owned enterprises and 80.7 per cent for private domestic ones.

In Hồ Chí Minh City, the country’s economic powerhouse, a similar survey by the municipal Statistics Office reveals that 41.8 per cent of businesses foresee stable production and operations in Q3, while 33.7 per cent expect improvement.

By ownership type, 85.7 per cent of State-owned enterprises in HCM City forecast more favourable conditions this quarter compared to Q2. This rate is 74.5 per cent for foreign-invested firms and 68.9 per cent for non-State enterprises.

Regarding second-quarter performance, nearly 36 per cent of surveyed businesses nationwide said conditions had improved from the first quarter. Meanwhile, 43 per cent said they experienced stable operations and 21.3 per cent faced ongoing challenges. In HCM City, almost 75 per cent of enterprises recorded either steady or improved activity.

According to the NSO, industrial production continued to show strong growth in the previous quarter. The Industrial Production Index (IIP) is estimated to have risen 10.3 per cent year-on-year in Q2, with manufacturing and processing up 12.3 per cent. Over the first half of 2025, the IIP grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent, the highest first-half increase since 2020.

The sector's added value expanded by 8.1 per cent in the first six months, marking the second-highest rate over the past five years, trailing only the 8.9 per cent recorded in the same period of 2022. This contributed 2.6 percentage points to the overall GDP growth. Việt Nam’s GDP in H1 surged by 7.5 per cent, marking the highest rate for the same period since 2011.

Meanwhile, Việt Nam’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for June, released by S&P Global, came in at 48.9, staying below the 50-point threshold for the third consecutive month, signalling a contraction.

Andrew Harker, economics director for Economic Indicators & Surveys at S&P Global Market Intelligence, attributed the decline to subdued global demand for Vietnamese manufactured goods. Nonetheless, he noted an increase in production output for the second straight month and gradually improving business confidence as positive trends. — VNS