Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The proportion of Japanese enterprises operating in Vietnamforecast to be profitable in business activities last year is 54.3 percent, up4.7 points compared to 2020.

Thisfigure is part of a survey on Japanese investment in Asia and Oceania 2021. Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi Takeo Nakajima presented the figureon January 19.

Inthis 35th survey, the programme received responses from 702 Japaneseenterprises operating in Vietnam.

Notably,the survey period was from August 25 to September 24 last year, coinciding withthe time when Vietnam implemented strict social distance measures due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore,it affected the response results of enterprises, said Nakajima.

However,the number of Japanese businesses investing and operating in Vietnam sayingtheir profit improved reached 31.4 percent, an increase compared to thelast survey in 2020.

Onthe other hand, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery ofbusinesses is slower than in other countries.

Inparticular, in the South and Central regions, more than 40 percent ofbusinesses answered that their operating profit "declined" due to thedecrease in operating rates.

Asfor the manufacturing industry, the proportion of enterprises reporting aprofit is 57.5 percent; while non-manufacturing is 51.5 percent.

Towardsthe new year, 56.2 percent of surveyed businesses answered "improved"in terms of business profit prospects compared to last year.

Thepercentage of enterprises that intend to expand their business in Vietnam inthe next one to two years is 55.3 percent, up 8.5 points from the previousyear, ranking first in ASEAN and fourth in 20 countries in the survey, onlybehind India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Thepercentage of businesses wanting to expand operations in Vietnam has decreasedcompared to before the pandemic, said Nakajima. However, this was the generaltrend in other markets, not only Vietnam, due to the impacts of COVID-19.

Vietnamwas also a country where the rate of enterprises expanding production washigher than that of the ASEAN region, he added.

Interms of investment environment advantages, market capabilities, developmentpotential; stable political and social situation; and high-quality staff arethe highlights of Vietnam compared to other ASEAN countries.

Althoughthe minimum wage last year did not increase, wages in Japanese businesses grewby an average of 5.4 percent.

JETRO'sreport also shows that businesses in Vietnam are most interested in"saving energy and saving resources" in the trend of efforts toreduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Thereare few enterprises co-operating with Vietnamese start-ups (5 percent) andenterprises intending to co-operate (3 percent) but enterprises interested inco-operation is 30 percent, higher than the average of the Asia and Oceaniaregion.

Regardingthe prospect of new capital inflows in the new year, Jetro believes that wheninternational routes between the two countries are restored and stabilised, itwould create a basis for Japanese enterprises to study Vietnamese businessenvironment and make decisions./.