Latest business report includes some surprises

 SMES on the brink of bankruptcy

SME has been facing losses and in financial crisis for years. In August, 2012, two SME leaders were detained for defrauding PetroVietnam Insurance JSC (PVI). Since then the firm has had both its securities depository and brokerage licenses revoked.

In addition, the company was delisted from the Hanoi Stock Exchange in October 2012 after violating transparency regulations. The company’s stocks were put under "special control" from December 4, 2012 to April 4, 2013 because of continual failure to pay debts.

Currently the stock prices of SME remain relatively low. According to the latest report, the company's combined losses for last nine months of 2011 were VND35 billion ($1.7 million), and they have yet to release their financial reports for the years of 2011 and 2012.

This is the third year consecutive FAST500 report that has been released in Vietnam. This year it showed an average growth rate for the top 500 businesses of 62.2per cent. In the period between 2007 and 2010 the rate was 59per cent.

Though Hanoi and HCM City continue to top the list of economic hubs, many of the fastest-growing firms in top 10 were located in other provinces and cities, such as Nghe An, Hai Duong, Khanh Hoa.

 Real estate companies dominate the FAST500

Real estate companies continue to dominate the list, with agriculture and forestry companies following. The mechanical engineering had the strongest overall growth rate of 86per cent from 2008 to 2011. The telecom came in second at 72.2per cent.

For the first time since early 2011, more business people were optimistic than pessimistic about the economy. Over 62per cent of those asked said that they expected their profits to increase this year and planned on hiring.

However, the report went on to warn that, "Hasty decisions to rescue certain sectors may pose a risk to the rest of the economy, and in the long run could lead to market instability and inflation in addition to eroding confidence in the government."