Vietnam enterprises most optimistic in Asia
By Thuy Trieu - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – Business confidence among Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has hit the highest level since first affected by the global financial crisis in the fourth quarter of 2008 and is also the highest in the region, according to the latest survey of HSBC.
The semi-annual HSBC Small Business Confidence Monitor gauges the six-month outlook of SMEs on local 
economic growth, capital investment plans and recruitment. This fifth survey is the largest up to date, capturing the views of more than 6,000 SMEs across 20 markets in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Latin America.
The survey was conducted in October and November last year by the market research TNS for HSBC.
Huynh Buu Quang, head of commercial banking of HSBC Vietnam, said, “Since the last survey in the second quarter last year, we have seen an increase in business confidence among Vietnamese SMEs.”
“Survey results of the fourth quarter last year make it clear that a majority of Vietnamese SMEs are expecting the economy to further recover in the next six months. As a result, Vietnam’s small businesses are planning to expand their staff base and investment to prepare for new business opportunities not only in Vietnam but also overseas,” he said.
In terms of local gross domestic product (GDP) growth, 71% of Vietnam’s SMEs expect local GDP to increase higher, 23% expect growth to maintain and only 6% expect growth to slow down in the next six months. Enterprises who think GDP will increase over 4% rose to 53% in this survey from 28% in the previous survey in the second quarter last year.
Vietnamese SMEs are also more confident with plans to invest in their own businesses in the first half this year. According to the survey, over half of them (66%, up from 58% in second quarter last year) are planning to increase their capital expenditures, while 32% say they will maintain current levels and only 1% compared to 3% in the survey earlier are planning reductions.
Globally, a significant number of SMEs are planning to increase capital expenditure, led by Vietnam (66%), India (49%) and the Middle East (47%).
Up to 54% of local SMEs are hiring employees again. Among them, 36% say they will increase staff up to 20% and 18% say they will increase staff over 20% while 44% will maintain their staff base in the next six months. The number planning to reduce staff dropped to 1% against 3% in the second quarter last year.