HCM City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City has received morethan 80 percent of questionnaires from enterprises, the highest rate in recentyears, after four months of gathering data for the first phase of the 2017economic census.

The first phase, conducted from March 1 to May 30, surveyedproduction and business establishments, administrative offices, branches andrepresentative offices of foreign enterprises, and foreign non-governmentalorganisations.

Collected data showed a significant increase in the number ofindividually-owned and household businesses, with a combined total of more than448,000, compared to 200,000 listed in a report from the city’s TaxationDepartment and Department of Planning and Investment.

The increase in number was attributed to room rental servicesoffered by individual households.

Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee,said taxation and statistics agencies would be asked to review these figures asindividual and household businesses play a significant role in economicdevelopment and must be better managed by local authorities.

As of the end of 2016, the city had 196,500 businesses. Of thenumber, 160,560 were still operating and 20,400 had closed, the census found.

Nearly 14,050 businesses were waiting to be dissolved and 1,620could not be located, city officials said at a meeting last week to review thefirst phase of the census.

A representative from the city’s Statistics Office saidinformation would be collected about production and trading activities in 2016as part of an investigation of active businesses. The department also plannedto investigate businesses that had halted operations.

Though 115,000 businesses registered to open in early 2017,taxation and statistics agencies have not been able to locate them.

The city’s Steering Committee for the Economic Census 2017 hasasked the city to verify the existence of these businesses.

As of July 24, the city’s People’s Committee had sentquestionnaires to 173,590 enterprises and collected 141,480, accounting for81.5 percent, higher than the average of 72-75 percent in previous years.

Though the rate of return of the questionnaires was higher thisyear, some districts said that many enterprises were uncooperative.

The statistics office in district 9, for example, said that only4,000 of more than 5,000 invited enterprises had taken part in training for thecensus.

The head of the statistics office said the number of returnedquestionnaires was small, even though local authorities had sent people tocollect the documents at enterprises’ premises.

“Many enterprises did not return the questionnaires despite beingreminded several times,” the head of the statistics office said. “In somecases, directors of the enterprises signed the questionnaires without fillingin any information.”

Representatives from district 2 and Tan Binh and Binh Thanhdistricts also complained, saying that the attitude of enterprises had hindereddata collection.

District 1, which has the highest number of enterprises in thecity, reported only 77 percent of returned questionnaires.

It found that 3,100 enterprises were located at differentaddresses from the ones initially registered with the city.

“There are more than 2,550 enterprises we cannot locate. This is abig problem. We weren’t aware of this until we began the census,” arepresentative from District 1 said.

Liem said that it was necessary to have better and more completeanswers on the questionnaires, and if standards were not met, the enterprisesmust redo them.

“Only by doing this can data be correct and reflect the realsituation of the city’s economy,” he added.

The economic census, which is carried out in two phases, helpsofficials assess socio-economic development and assists the Party and State increating development policies.

The census includes information about economic establishments,labourers’ incomes, production and business activities, and enterprises’technological applications and their access to loans.

During the second phase, from July 1-30, information was collectedfrom religious and belief establishments, and individual non-agricultural,fishery and forestry business and production establishments.

Preliminary data will be released in December 2017, while theofficial results will be announced in the third quarter of 2018.-VNA