Despite the dominant number of State-owned companies in the top 500 biggest firms announced by Vietnam Report on Monday, private enterprises have still continued to strengthen their presence in the list.

Vietnam Report in a press release noted some points that makers of the report had drawn from a survey of the country’s biggest entities this year. 

The number of private firms entering in the top list has steadily marked up over the past six year. Only 103 private companies were selected for the VNR500 list in 2007 but the figure surged to up to 225 entities this year, rising over two times.

However, in spite of the declining number, State-run companies have still accounted for more than 63% of the total revenue of enterprises belonging to the 2012 VNR500.

The biggest firms of this year’s VNR500 are still dominated by State-owned economic groups.  But it is noted that Samsung Electronics Vietnam has for the first time entered the top-five group.

As for the ranking of top local private entities, the list sees the presence of high-profile private firms like Doji Gold & Gems Group, FPT Group or Asia Commercial Bank.

Despite the rising of private firms, several enterprises surveyed expressed their pessimism about the 2013 economic prospect, the research group said. A large number of companies deemed it impossible for the economy to recover next year.

As much as two thirds of companies thought that the economy could not be improved in 2013. Only 33% of respondents said the economy would recover in the second half of 2013 while a mere 1% believed the economy would get better in the next six months.

The confidence that the economy will change for the better in 2013 has fallen compared to August when up to 60% of companies surveyed said the economic improvement would be seen in 2013 or sooner.

Source: http://english.thesaigontimes.vn