Some 224,200 companies established in Vietnam in past 3 years

A total of 224,200 companies were established in Vietnam during 2011-2013 period, nearly 41 percent of the country's total number of enterprises set up from 1991 to 2010, said an official report released on Monday, In the first quarter of 2014, Vietnam saw over 18,000 newly registered companies with a total capital of approximately 98 trillion Vietnamese dong (4.64 billion U.S. dollars), up 17 percent in volume and 23 percent in value year-on-year. However, during January-March period, some 17,000 local companies were dissolved or halt operation, up 9.6 percent year-on- year. Average registered capital per company decreased from 6.63 billion Vietnamese dong (315,000 U.S. dollars) in 2011 to 5.13 billion Vietnamese dong (243,000 U.S. dollars) in 2013. Private sector accounted for 96 percent of total companies in Vietnam and 48-49 percent of Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) in 2010-2012 period. The GDP proportion of the public sector went down from 37.72 percent in 2009 to 32.57 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment companies remained stable with 17-18 percent of country's GDP during the period.