German firms upbeat about VN market

July 31, 2014 | 09:26

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HCM CITY - German businesses are positive on Viet Nam's economic outlook and have high expectations for next year in terms of sales, production, human resource demand, and capital expenditure, according to a survey by the German ASEAN Chamber Network.

illustration photo source Zing

Seventy per cent of German companies in Viet Nam confirmed positive market development over the past year and a good current situation leading to a more positive outlook than in 2013 on the overall economy, capital expenditure, and private and business consumption.

Around 50 per cent have done better compared to last year and expect to continue this strong run, especially in sales where 56 per cent of the respondents forecast an increase over the next 12 months.

Sixty per cent of the companies intend to increase their workforce in 2015 and keep their capital expenditure high.

The survey questions focused on business confidence, growth expectations, investment, and company indicators, comparing the current situation with last year and seeking forecasts for the year ahead.

Respondents were also asked about their views of the current overall economy in their respective countries.

The Vietnamese respondents represented industry (47 per cent), services (35 per cent), trading (9 per cent), consultancy (6 per cent) and testing certification (3 per cent).

Lack of skilled labour, policies that are not conductive for business, and bureaucracy remain the most significant hurdles for them.

Other significant factors are import trade barriers (63 per cent), corruption (63 per cent), inflation (50 per cent), and tax burden (46 per cent).

Qualified technical personnel are difficult to find and almost all the firms offer training to their staff. Seventy per cent have great difficulty in finding qualified employees with university degrees and 46 per cent with finding workers with vocational training.

VNS

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