The report showed that Vietnam had around 518,000 enterprises as of January 1, 2017, including 12,800 enterprises in the investment phase and 505,000 enterprises which were actually operating, up 55.6% over the General inquiry's results in 2012.
The number of private enterprises dominated the market with 500,000 enterprises, up 52.2% over 2012 and saw an annual growth of 8.7%.
The foreign direct investment sector posted 14,600 enterprises, up 54.2% compared to 2012 and a 9.2% annual growth in the number of enterprises.
Meanwhile, the number of operating SOE in Vietnam was more than 2,700 as of January 1, 2017, down 18.3% compared to 2012 (equivalent to 607 enterprises) due to the government’s efforts to privatise SOE over the past few years.
The service sector witnessed the highest number of enterprises at 362,000, accounting for 70% of the total number of enterprises, which mainly operate in the areas of education and training, entertainment, health, warehouses, and real estate.
Notably, the proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises increased by 6 percentage points compared to 2012, while the proportion of labourers fell by 0.8 percentage points, indicating that the size of enterprises is diminishing.
In addition, the country had approximately 63,000 firms involved in import-export activities as of January 1, 2017, up 48.2% against 2012.
