HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s enterprises feel positive about the business climate for the fourth quarter, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The office reported that 52.6 per cent of enterprises in the domestic processing and manufacturing sector, participating in its survey on business trends, said that local business would be better in the fourth quarter.

At the same time, 11 per cent of the enterprises predicted that local business would be weaker, while 36.4 per cent said the business situation would remain stable.

When asked about the decisive factor that would affect the production and business of enterprises in the third quarter, 59.4 per cent of businesses said that the competitiveness of domestic goods was the most influencing factor.

Meanwhile, 47 per cent of participants said that low market demand would most influence their production and business. As many as 32.2 per cent of businesses said it was financial difficulties, 31.2 per cent of them said it was due to the lack of qualified workers, 28.1 per cent considered it to be high lending interest rates and 22.2 per cent attributed this to competition generated from imported goods.

In terms of production volume, 44.4 per cent of businesses said that Q3 production volume had increased in comparison with the previous quarter, 18 per cent of them said that the production volume had decreased and 37.6 per cent of them said it had remained stable. 

As many as 54.2 per cent of participants predicted that production volume would increase in the fourth quarter. Only 9.9 per cent forecast a fall in the production volume, while 35.9 per cent said it would remain stable.

While 38.1 per cent of businesses have a higher amount of orders in the third quarter, as compared to the second quarter, 17.7 per cent of them saw a lower number of orders and 44.2 per cent of businesses said their orders had remained stable.

About 48.9 per cent of companies expected their orders to rise in the fourth quarter, 10.4 per cent of them forecast a reduction in orders and 40.7 per cent of businesses said orders might remain stable.

Regarding export orders in the third quarter, as compared to the previous quarter, 32 per cent of businesses said they had received higher export orders, 16.2 per cent of them saw reduced export orders and 51.8 per cent of them saw export orders remaining stable.

For Q4, 39.7 per cent of enterprises expected to receive a higher amount of export orders, 10.6 per cent of them forecast a downtrend in export orders and 49.7 per cent of businesses expected export orders to remain stable.

In terms of production costs, 23.8 per cent of businesses said that the cost of production in the third quarter had increased, as compared to the previous quarter, 7.5 per cent of businesses said the cost had fallen and 68.7 per cent of them said the cost had remained the same as the previous quarter.

As many as 18.4 per cent of participants expected production costs to increase during the fourth quarter, as compared to the third quarter, 9.6 per cent of businesses said costs would decline and 72 per cent of them said they would remain unchanged.

Regarding the selling price, 15.9 per cent of businesses said that product prices in the third quarter had risen, as compared to the previous quarter, 8.6 per cent of them said the prices had reduced and 75.5 per cent of businesses said prices were the same as before.

As for the fourth quarter, 15.9 per cent of enterprises forecast that the selling prices of products in the fourth quarter would be higher, 6.8 per cent forecast lower prices, while 77.3 per cent of them forecast stable prices.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the first nine months of this year, nearly 94,000 enterprises nationwide were established, with a registered capital of VNĐ902.7 trillion (US$40 billion), up 15.4 per cent in terms of the number of registered enterprises and up 43.5 per cent in terms of registered capital, as compared to the same period in 2016.

The number of enterprises, which suspended operations in nine months, was 49,345, up 9.4 per cent over the same period last year. — VNS