Hanoi, Jan. 29 -- About half of Japanese companies operating in Vietnam expected improvements in profits in 2024, a survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) found.

The survey on the business conditions of Japanese companies operating overseas in the fiscal year 2023 showed that the percentage of companies that expected to make a profit in 2023 was 54.3%, 5.2 percentage points lower than the 2022 survey and equivalent to the level in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure is 6.6 percentage points lower than the average rate in ASEAN countries. In 2017-2019, the percentage of businesses expecting to make a profit was above 65%, higher than the region average.

The decline was attributed to lower demand in e...