Business Confidence Index increases, says survey

The business confidence index (BCI) in the third quarter of 2009 increased by 6 points over the previous quarter, which is also a 36 point rise compared to the first index in the third quarter of 2008.

This is one of the results from a survey jointly conducted by the Vietnam WVB Financial Intelligence Services (WVB VietNam) and the PetroVietnam Finance Investment and Consultancy Company (PVFC Invest) and will be officially made public on October 16.

Most major economies are concerned about the return of inflation over the last few months of the year, so the increase in the BCI is a good sign that the country’s economy is recovering, according to the survey.

This survey, extended from 15 September to the first week in October 2009 attracted 143 companies from 11 primary sectors and industries in Vietnam. Half of them were small or medium-sized enterprises.

Up to 71 percent of the questioned businesses said that they thought the overall economic conditions have improved compared to one year ago and 77 percent think the conditions will get better over the next twelve months.

Meanwhile, 57 percent of businesses expect to increase their workforce employees and 59 percent think they will continue to invest more in fixed assets over the next 12 months.

No businesses said they are worried about their sales dropping off in the next 12 months and 69 percent said that they are confident their company’s profits will increase in the next year.

In this survey, the WVBVN and PVFC Invest also investigated the opinions of enterprises on burning issues including the effectiveness of the first stimulus package, the necessity for a second package, the nature of the economic recovery and the market outlook in the near future.

The results show that 54 percent of enterprises believed that the recent signs of economic recovery indicate that the economy is escaping from the recession and making steady progress. Meanwhile, 40 percent said that the first package was really effective.

World Vest Base (WVB), a US based company established in 1985, specialises in supplying information and financial databases as requested by banks and financial organisations worldwide.

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