More than 500 enterprises from different economic sectors and representatives of government agencies and business associations attended the conference.

Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said the first half of 2008 saw the establishment of 34,000 enterprises, increasing the total number to 286,000 nationwide.

About 41.2 percent of the enterprises still planned to expand their operations despite the economic difficulties that have emerged recently, he said.

Reported by Xuan Toan