Business index finds firms lack confidence
Business index finds firms lack confidence
Vietnamese businesses gave up hope for a national economic recovery as the Business Confidence Index (BCI) reflected a reduction of 13 points in the third quarter against the previous one.
However, the index for the third quarter was still 7 points higher than the third quarter of 2008, when the index had its debut.
The survey for the third quarter this year was carried out among 110 leading businesses operating in core business activities at all large, medium and small scales across Viet Nam from September 15 to the first week of October by the Viet Nam World Vest Base (WVB) Financial Intelligence Services Limited Company and the PetroVietnam Financial Consulting and Investment JSC (PVFC Invest).
According to the survey, 28.18 per cent of surveyed businesses said Viet Nam's overall economic landscape looked promising compared to one year ago while 35 per cent saw no change. Around 37 per cent of businesses said Viet Nam's economic conditions had worsened.
Predicting Viet Nam's economic situation in the next 12 months, 69 per cent of businesses expressed a positive view, while 6.36 per cent worried about Viet Nam's economic future.
Around 57 per cent of surveyed businesses believed that their revenue would increase and over 36 per cent of business saw their revenue remaining the same. Only 6.4 per cent of business were seriously worried about their revenue.
About 54 per cent of businesses said their profits would increase next year and 36.4 per cent believed their profits would stay the same, the survey said. Meanwhile, an astonishing 22.7 per cent of businesses worried about a reduction in profits next year.
However, 69 per cent of the surveyed businesses believed that the existing policies on stabilising macro-economy issued by the Government would soon create positive changes in the domestic economy.
As a result, 47.2 per cent of businesses would maintain their workforce and 42.73 per cent would recruit more employees, so only 10 per cent of businesses would cut down their labour force.
At the survey, the WVB also investigated factors affecting the BCI in the third quarter.
The majority of businesses said they were experiencing difficulty approaching banking loans because of inefficiencies in production.
About 30 per cent of the surveyed businesses said the best solution for the current business situation was for them to use their financial ability to build suitable business strategies.
The enterprises should master innovations in technology and make their products more competitive.
To sell their products, the businesses should restructure their offerings, promote market development and offer discounts and advertising.
Half of the questioned businesses believed that the local petrol and oil price would remain unstable for the next three months, while all businesses said the consumer price index (CPI) would continue increasing next quarter.
vietnamnews
