Garment products are made by workers of Hưng Long Garment and Service JSC in the northern province of Hưng Yên. — VNA/VNS Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI Nearly 37,600 new firms were established in Việt Nam with registered capital of a combined VNĐ445.2 trillion (US$19.1 billion) in the first four months of this year, down 13.2 per cent in number and 18 per cent in registered capital year-on-year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Average registered capital per new enterprise was VNĐ11.8 billion (US$506,400) during this period, down 5.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report. 

Taking into account VNĐ680.9 trillion of additional capital injected by operating enterprises, total registered capital pumped into the economy in the January-April period hit more than VNĐ1.1 quadrillion, a year-on-year decline of 20.4 per cent.  

Among sectors, only electricity, gas and water production and distribution saw an increase in the number of new enterprises with 527, up 41 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, newly-established enterprises in wholesale, retail, automobile repair were 12,717, down 11 per cent year-on-year. New firms in the construction sector totalled 5,011, down 13 per cent while those in manufacturing and processing reached 4,820, down 12.1 per cent.

In the four-month period, 17,800 enterprises resumed operations, a yearly hike of 2.1 per cent , bringing the total number of newly-registered and reinstated enterprises in the four-month period to 55,400. 
According to the GSO, the number of labourers of newly-established enterprises experienced a strong decrease of 30 per cent year-on-year to 315,700. 

It said due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of enterprises temporarily ceasing operations from January to April surged 34 per cent year-on-year to 22,700.

The reviewed period also saw 5,100 enterprises completing procedures for bankruptcy. Of them, 4,600 enterprises had a capital base of less than VNĐ10 billion, down 4.5 per cent.

The GSO noted that in April, 7,885 new firms were set up with registered capital of nearly VNĐ94 trillion, marking declines of 36 per cent in the number of enterprises and 29 per cent in registered capital over the previous month.

In a brighter spot, the number of enterprises which resumed operations rose 11.3 per cent month-on-month and 41 per cent year-on-year to 3,810.

GSO statisticians said these positive figures indicated that enterprises are preparing for a restart to grasp new business opportunities once the pandemic is contained. — VNS