Statistics published by the Ministry of Industry show that the number of new industrial firms established up to June 2000 was 191, compared with 267 firms created in the same period of 1999.The combined figure for capital invested in the first six months of the year in these new firms was more than $44m,18.29%lower on the year-earlier period, indicating a certain amount of gloom among manufacturers as regards the current economic climate. The new companies registered in the first 6 months of 2000 were distributed among various economic sectors as follows:
tab: New registered industrial firms
