HCMC has 400 household businesses upgraded into firms

There have been 413 household businesses upgraded into firms in HCMC this year as the city has been trying to persuade household business owners to register as companies.

A report on the city’s economic performance showed January-May has seen 15,500 enterprises in the city receiving business registration certificates with total registered capital of VND193.8 trillion (about US$8.53 billion), up 10.4% and 54.2% respectively.

Meanwhile, fresh foreign direct investment approvals, including for mergers and acquisitions (M&A),in the first five months of 2017 in the city have shot up 46% against the same period last year to US$1.37 billion.

South Korea is the city’s biggest foreign investor with total investment pledges of US$95.11 million, 27.8% of the total, followed by Malaysia with US$45.07 million (13.2%), Singapore with US$39.91 million (11.7%) and Japan with US$38.9 million (11.4%).

The city government said that in the coming months, the city will continue fostering the startup ecosystem and support the upgrade of household businesses to companies.

The city looks to have 60,000 enterprises newly registered this year and the total number of firms in the city will rise to half a million by 2020. The total number of sactive firm here at the moment is around 300,000.

A recent report of the HCMC Tax Department showed the city has more than 36,472 household businesses eligible for upgrade to firms. The city expects 21,000 of them to become firms this year.

Once upgraded to firms, household businesses will have the opportunity to expand operations, promote brands, and gain easier access to bank loans and other benefits. In case of losses, they will be exempted from corporate income tax and can carry forward losses to the following years.

Source: The SaigonTimes