Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – While Vietnameseenterprises have made many changes to adapt to difficulties caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic, the rigid application of pandemic prevention and controlmeasures might drive away foreign investment from Vietnam, experts have warned.
According to To Hoai Nam, Vice President and General Secretary of the VietnamAssociation of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME), many businesses have organisedrotational shifts for employees to minimise absence and leave no one behind.They applied cost-saving measures by adjusting personnel towards concentrationand giving priority to positions generating direct revenues and createdconditions for some positions to work from home at the same time.
In addition, businesses reviewed spending plans by cutting or adjustinginvestment programmes which are not urgent or are no longer suitable forconditions amid the pandemic and after it is over to adapt to changes inconsumers' behaviour.
Enterprises also actively negotiated to reduce office rent and production andbusiness rates; adjusted internal regulations to ensure the safety of labourpositions while also ensuring the maintenance of operations, he said.
However, the implementation of the “three on-site” model which was appliedsuccessfully in the northern province of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, has createdproblems for many enterprises. Some businesses have had to suspend operationsas they couldn’t meet the model’s requirements.
The "three on-site" model, which involves eating, sleeping, andworking without leaving factories, aims to keep production going while ensuringCOVID-19 control and prevention measures are ensured.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in Vietnam are facing similarproblems like domestic businesses.
Nguyen Hai Minh, Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam(EuroCham) said the inconsistence in applying pandemic prevention and controlrules of provinces are causing difficulties for businesses in general andEuroCham member enterprises in particular.
He suggested the government devise common solutions and strategies forenterprises to live with pandemic because they do not know when the COVID-19crisis is over.
An expert who wanted to stay anonymous said bottlenecks for FDI businessesshould be removed such as the quarantine-free entry for foreign experts withvaccine passports who visit Vietnam for a short time. Priority should be givento vaccinating workers at FDI enterprises.
If the interruption of the supply chain of intermediate products lasts for along time, it will lead to the suspended manufacturing of finished products,causing difficulties for businesses, the expert said, adding that there is arisk of shifting foreign investment from Vietnam to other countries once thebottlenecks aren’t settled soon.
Many countries around the world have rolled relief packages to support COVID-19-hitbusinesses but they don’t impose rigid regulations relating to businessesoperations.
For instance, the Republic of Korea’s government did not only provide loans forvulnerable small businesses but also exempted taxes for them.
Large automobile manufacturers like Ford, GM and Volkswagen don’t choose tomaintain full operations but reduce the scale of production. They only maintainthe operations of the necessary departments in case the pandemic developscomplicatedly.
In general, countries respect the right of businesses to operate or postponeoperations on the ground of providing maximum assistance for them in terms offinance./.
According to To Hoai Nam, Vice President and General Secretary of the VietnamAssociation of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME), many businesses have organisedrotational shifts for employees to minimise absence and leave no one behind.They applied cost-saving measures by adjusting personnel towards concentrationand giving priority to positions generating direct revenues and createdconditions for some positions to work from home at the same time.
In addition, businesses reviewed spending plans by cutting or adjustinginvestment programmes which are not urgent or are no longer suitable forconditions amid the pandemic and after it is over to adapt to changes inconsumers' behaviour.
Enterprises also actively negotiated to reduce office rent and production andbusiness rates; adjusted internal regulations to ensure the safety of labourpositions while also ensuring the maintenance of operations, he said.
However, the implementation of the “three on-site” model which was appliedsuccessfully in the northern province of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, has createdproblems for many enterprises. Some businesses have had to suspend operationsas they couldn’t meet the model’s requirements.
The "three on-site" model, which involves eating, sleeping, andworking without leaving factories, aims to keep production going while ensuringCOVID-19 control and prevention measures are ensured.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in Vietnam are facing similarproblems like domestic businesses.
Nguyen Hai Minh, Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam(EuroCham) said the inconsistence in applying pandemic prevention and controlrules of provinces are causing difficulties for businesses in general andEuroCham member enterprises in particular.
He suggested the government devise common solutions and strategies forenterprises to live with pandemic because they do not know when the COVID-19crisis is over.
An expert who wanted to stay anonymous said bottlenecks for FDI businessesshould be removed such as the quarantine-free entry for foreign experts withvaccine passports who visit Vietnam for a short time. Priority should be givento vaccinating workers at FDI enterprises.
If the interruption of the supply chain of intermediate products lasts for along time, it will lead to the suspended manufacturing of finished products,causing difficulties for businesses, the expert said, adding that there is arisk of shifting foreign investment from Vietnam to other countries once thebottlenecks aren’t settled soon.
Many countries around the world have rolled relief packages to support COVID-19-hitbusinesses but they don’t impose rigid regulations relating to businessesoperations.
For instance, the Republic of Korea’s government did not only provide loans forvulnerable small businesses but also exempted taxes for them.
Large automobile manufacturers like Ford, GM and Volkswagen don’t choose tomaintain full operations but reduce the scale of production. They only maintainthe operations of the necessary departments in case the pandemic developscomplicatedly.
In general, countries respect the right of businesses to operate or postponeoperations on the ground of providing maximum assistance for them in terms offinance./.
VNA
