Virus Covid - 19 seriously affected production and business activities of enterprises

In order to propose to the Government, VINASME has urgently sent a dispatch to request provincial business associations, committees and subordinate units to report on the situation of each locality, as well as the solutions to synthesize and soon submit to competent authorities.

According to the dispatch of VINASME, although Vietnam has basically controlled the Covid-19 epidemic, the situation is still very complicated worldwide. From the very beginning, the Government of Vietnam has actively developed comprehensive plans to respond to each senario. Although Vietnam is very close to the epidemic zone and has many economic activities with China, the country is still effectively controlling the situation.

Responding to the dispatch of VINASME, all member units have reported the current situation of local enterprises. For example, the report of Da Nang’s SMEs association shows that: After the Decree 100/2019/ND-CP of the Government on December 30, 2019 takes effect, plus the Covid-19 epidemic, many industries are seriously affected such as: Transportation and logistics, agriculture, forestry and fishery, electric and electronics, leather and footwear, textiles and tourism.

Although Da Nang has not recorded any case of Corona pneumonia, tourists are still afraid of getting infected, because this is a famous and crowded place. On the other hand, the government is also restricting crowd gathering, so the number of visitors decreased by 50-60% and other services like Catering, hotels and restaurants are also seriously affected. So far, the number of tour canceling has markedan unprecedented number in the tourism industry.

Da Nang's tourism is seriously affected by the Covid - 19.

According to VINASME’s summary report, Vietnam’s agricultural products are currently congested at border gates with China, so many export enterprises are at risk of loss. In the manufacturing sector, most Vietnamese companies are small and medium, so the amount of raw material reserves is relatively small. Meanwhile, the Covid – 19 interrupted the supply chain between Vietnam and China, so all production activities were halted. Currently, finding new suppliers is also very difficult, because of high input costs, which will affect product prices and competitiveness.

More importantly, it is worse that traders take the opportunity to push the price of products in order to earn extra profit, and even supply fake goods to the market. Moreover, the Covid – 19 has also led to the instability of labor force when many manufacturing companies were downsizing. The long absence of students is also an indirect factor of this instability.

Governments and enterprises need to join hands in coping with difficulties

Due to the above challenges, VINASME has proposed some immediate and systematic solutions to the government. From the State's perspective, functional agencies should promptly update the worldwide situation of Covid 19, especially countries with large economic impacts on Vietnam. At the same time, it is necessary to control communication to calm down enterprises. The Government needs to apply consistent and synchronous measures to stabilize the domestic consumer market and the financial - monetary markets ... Besides, it is recommended that the State bank freeze or extend debts and reduce interest rates ... for businesses that are greatly affected.

Preventive measures should be cautious to avoid freezing all activities of the economy. In addition, the inspection at border gates must focus on facilitating the clearance of goods instead of causing more difficulties for enterprises. On the other hand, the Government should encourage the sharing economy model, B2B e-commerce activity, and trade promotion to new markets outside China.

The Government also needs to promote "digital" models such as digital factories, to meet the needs of processing agricultural products and awaiting storage; or digital marketing to promote tourism to European and Australian markets. Several temporary policies should be conducted immediately like visa-free application for high-profile markets, or extending visa-free periods for existing markets. The actual application of the already effective FTA agreements is also very important at the present.

From the enterprises’ perspective, business owners need to proactively update the epidemic information, especially in countries where their business partners are located, thereby devising plans to deal with the worst situation. In the immediate time, enterprises need to accurately assess the market’s demand to adjust their production and business plans accordingly. Furthermore, there must be a policy to retain key labor forces to ensure stability as soon as the epidemic is over. For the issue of shipping raw materials from China, enterprises should actively find other way of transportation, such as shipping by the sea.