Over 61,600 companies exit Ho Chi Minh City market in January-October: taxman

Among them, more than 26,500 businesses removed their registered office addresses, up 23.7 percent against the same period last year, while around 19,360 others temporarily suspended their operations.

The number of businesses ceasing operations also rose more than 19 percent year on year at roughly 13,270, and some 2,400 firms completed procedures for disbandment.

As a result, the number of active businesses in the southern metropolis dropped 13.8 percent over the same period last year to some 275,700.

Each quarter of this year saw an average of around 20,000 businesses leave the market in the city.

Statistics from the taxation department also showed that the number of newly-founded firms in the city reached a mere 36,853 during the January-October period, dipping over 12.5 percent against the last-year figure and equivalent to some 50 percent of the businesses exiting the market during the said period.

Given the number of companies pulling out of the market, the city has witnessed a record high volume of retail spaces left vacant along inner-city streets over the past three years.

On Dong Khoi Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in District 1, a dozen stores were closed and many retail spaces are being offered for lease.

A one-kilometer-long section of Hai Ba Trung Street, another inner-city, busiest shopping street in the area, faced the same fate, with the outside of vacant buildings and other commercial properties covered with retail space advertisements.

Official data from market research agencies revealed that the wave of tenants returning retail spaces shows little sign of abating in the southern city, as an economic downturn is forecast to bite further and local people have to deliberate on business plans before making any decisions at this tough time.

Source: Tuoi Tre News