Vietnam’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) contributed 26 – 28% to the country's GDP in 2018 and made up 24.82% of the state budget revenue, VnEconomy reported.

As of the end of 2018, Vietnam has 490 wholly SOEs, including six conglomerates and 55 corporations, stated the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in a recent report.

According to the report, total assets of those state firms reached VND1,843 trillion (US$79.54 billion), of which, the combined equity amounted to VND1,040 trillion (US$44.89 billion).

Meanwhile, state firms generated revenue of VND193.51 trillion (US$8.35 billion) and VND26.42 trillion (US$1.14 billion) in profit last year.

The MPI expected 100 state firms would be subject to privatization in 2019, while the number slated for state divestment is 193.

In terms of foreign investment, the MPI forecast the actual disbursement of FDI in 2019 would be around US$18 – 19 billion and capital commitments at US$30 – 35 billion.

As of the end of 2018, total registered FDI to Vietnam was estimated at US$35.5 billion and actual FDI reached US$19.1 billion, up 9.1% year-on-year.

Additionally, the number of newly-established enterprises in 2019 is expected to slightly increase, reaching a total of 140,000.

The total number of operational enterprises in Vietnam as of present stands at 715,000, equivalent to 55% of the number of registered enterprises at 1.3 million.

Most of the newly-established enterprises are in the fields of wholesale, retail sale, automobile repair, stated the MPI.

The MPI also noted a positive trend in the development of small and medium enterprises with a higher rate in the establishment of small and medium enterprises, while the rate of micro-sized enterprises has declined from 71.86% to 65.52%. Hanoitimes