Hanoi (VNA) – About 84.8 percent ofbusinesses in the processing – manufacturing sector predicted expansion andstability in their production for the first quarter of 2020, the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO) said.

The GSO’s survey, conducted in Q4 of 2019,covered 6,500 companies representing the industry in the 63 provinces andcentrally-run cities, with 90 percent of the interviewees responding.

Among them, 46.9 percent expected productiongrowth and another 37.9 percent believed their activities will remain the samein Q1 compared to Q4 last year.

For the first half of 2020, 55.3 percent and 34percent of the firms forecast expansion and stability in their operations,respectively, compared to the last six months of 2019.

Meanwhile, FDI companies showed the mostoptimism with 87.9 percent of them expecting growth and stability forJanuary-March. They are followed by State-owned enterprises (85.2 percent) andnon-State businesses (83.5 percent).

The respective percentages of firms with similarprojections for this year’s first half stand at 91.5 percent, 89.9 percent, and88.4 percent.

The GSO noted 59.5 percent of the intervieweesexpected increase in electronics, computer and optical product manufacturingfor Q1; pharmaceutical production 56.5 percent; and food production andprocessing 51.4 percent.

They also predicted higher numbers of new exportorders, with 86.6 percent and 91.5 percent respectively believing so for thefirst three months and the first half of 2020, compared to the same periodslast year, the survey shows./.