HCM City: Manufacturers yearn to restore production

Hanoi (VNA) – As the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections has been slowly declining and Ho Chi Minh City has been gradually reopening the economy, workers are being called back to factories in the hope of restoring production to normal level.

Half of employees of Vinh Tien Paper JSC, or about 100, have returned to work since the beginning of this week. The company had been keeping its production running by letting just a dozen of workers eat, work and live on-site since early July.

As demand for notebooks and other school supplies has been on the rise at the start of the new academic year, Vinh Tien was allowed to bring back one third of its workforce through the “one route, two destinations” scheme. And now, with all of its workers have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with two jabs, more are back to work.

To get itself prepared for the “new normal,” Vinh Tien continues giving away rapid test kits to its employees, arrange a specified area for quarantine if any of them is detected with the virus, and disinfect its facility once per week.

If HCM City’s reopening plan is on track, Vinh Tien expects to fully resume production from October onward, said Chairman and General Director Lam An Dau.

“I think the city should boldly allow businesses, especially those with a high rate of fully-vaccinated workers, to resume production without the introduction of extra virus control rules,” he said, adding that it will enable the company to provide jobs for the workers and help them earn a living.

With the “three-on-site” scheme adopted, Dony Garment Company has been able to maintain production with around 20 percent of its headcount which increased to 30 percent in early September. However, the company still suffered big losses from rising costs and had to reject orders over the fear of not being able to fulfill them on time.

Dony’s productivity under the “three-on-site” scheme in six months is just equal to that under normal conditions for a month, said General Director Pham Quang Anh.

He suggested the city to abandon the scheme and let firms make commitments to keeping the virus out of their factories. If restrictions last longer, they will greatly affect production, he explained.

Operations at Duc Thanh Wood Processing JSC have been restored with about 200 workers over the last month. They have been inoculated with one jab and tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis.

“We have made ourselves ready (for the reopening) with materials stockpiling for 3 – 6 months,” a company representative said. However, he admitted that his company is struggling to call back workers as a majority of them have returned to their hometowns, lived in locked down areas, or are being under treatment for contracting COVID-19.

Businesses are looking forwards to HCM City’s reopening so they can keep orders and generate earnings to provide income for workers, said Chu Tien Dung, Chairman of the municipal Business Association.

He urged the Ministry of Health to revise a set of indicators for verifying a COVID-19-free zone, given that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has allowed the economy to reopen with COVID-19 rules in place.

Current strict social distancing measures should not go on any longer, he said./.