Over 67,823 enterprises have shut or suspended operations this year but the General Statistics Office (GSO) said the situation is not too worrying.

According to the GSO, 9,501 enterprises have been closed, with nearly 94% having less than VND10 billion in capital each. Besides, 70% of them operated in the services sector and used low technologies.

Pham Dinh Thuy, director of the Industrial Statistics Department under the GSO, said business closures and dissolutions would continue given the world’s economic slump and Vietnam’s heavy dependence on exports.

Up to 97.6% of local enterprises are of small and medium size with weak competitiveness. Moreover, domestic enterprises have poor human resources and limited access to modern technologies.

However, the GSO’s general director Nguyen Bich Lam said the situation is normal.

He quoted statistics as saying that the businesses surviving three years of challenges in the UK accounted for 70% of the total in 2012 while only 50% of companies in the U.S. survived five difficult years.

In addition, statistics of the New Zealand government indicated that the number of enterprises dissolved was higher than that of newly established businesses in the 2010-2013 period.

Figures of the European Commission also pointed out the number of new and closed enterprises in the continent was equal and that 46% of the enterprises had gone through five tough years.

“With around 500,000 operational enterprises out of a total of 830,000 enterprises set up in the past years in Vietnam, the survival rate is over 60%,” Lam said.

“To a certain extent, business closures can lead to economic restructuring, improvement of the business environment, and sustainable development.”

This year, more than 74,840 businesses have been established with combined registered capital of VND432.2 trillion, down 2.7% in number but up 8.4% in capital compared to last year. They have generated jobs for 1.09 million people, picking up 2.8% against last year.

Besides, the enterprises that have resumed operations this year are up by 7.1% to 15,419 units.

SGT/VNN