91.3% of manufacturing FIEs see better operations in Q2

The majority of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the manufacturing and processing industry believe the business and production situation will be stable or better in the second quarter, according to a recently-conducted survey by the General Statistics Office (GSO) on business trends among manufacturing and processing enterprises in the first quarter of 2019.

The survey results revealed that 33.7 per cent of enterprises rated their business performance in the first quarter as better than the previous quarter, 25.8 per cent pointed to difficulties, and 40.5 per cent said their business and production situation was stable.

As for second quarter versus the first quarter, 54.6 per cent of enterprises expect things will improve, 10.6 per cent forecast more difficulties, and 34.8 per cent believe business and production will remain stable. The figures in the State-owned and non-State sector regarding optimism over better business operations in the second quarter were 86.8 and 88.8 per cent, respectively.

Among the main factors affecting production and business in the first quarter, 59.2 per cent said that the high competitiveness of domestic goods was the most influential, 45 per cent believe it was low domestic market demand, 31.5 per cent said financial difficulties, 31.1 per cent said they could not recruit the workers they needed, 28.1 per cent believe that interest rates are too high, and 22.3 per cent pointed to the competitiveness of imported goods.

The GSO also found that 35.1 per cent of enterprises believe their production volume increased in the first quarter, 28 per cent said it fell, and 36.9 per cent said it was stable. For the second quarter, 55.7 per cent predict an increase in production volume, 10.3 per cent a fall, and 34 per cent stability.

Regarding orders, the trend in the second quarter has improved more than the previous quarter, with 51 per cent of enterprises expecting to see orders increase while 9.6 per cent plan to reduce orders and 39.4 per cent believe orders will remain stable.

For export orders in the second quarter, 43.3 per cent of enterprises forecast higher export orders, 10.2 per cent expect a decline, and 46.5 believe orders will remain stable compared to the first quarter.