Customers buy vegetables at a supermarket in HCM City (Photo: VNA) To run until March 31 next year, it has attracted the participation of 50businesses, including some with popular brands, and six banks and credit institutions,who have earmarked 11.34 trillion VND (491 million USD) to lend to theparticipating firms.
Their long-term interest rates will be 6.5-11.3 percent and short-term interestrates will be 4.5 percent.
Face masks and hand sanitisers were added to the list of essential goods lastyear, and the 10 earlier ones are rice, noodles and vermicelli; sugar; cookingoil; eggs; cattle meat; poultry meat; vegetables; processed foods; seafood; andseasoning.
The programme also covers dairy products and items when schools function.
The goods sold under the programme normally meet 25-30 percent of marketdemand, but accounted for 35-50 percent amid the pandemic last year.
Firms in the programme need to stockpile 15-20 percent more goods than normalto prepare for COVID-19 emergency responses.
As usual, they have to register their prices with the Department of Finance,with those of essential goods being 5-10 percent lower than market prices and10-15 percent in case of school items.
Goods sold through the programme should be locally made with clear origins thatmeet hygiene and food safety standards and are of assured quality.
This year the city plans to help participating businesses expand their salesnetworks and encourage them to tie up with modern distribution channels likesupermarkets and convenience stores, develop sales points at traditionalmarkets, industrial parks, export processing zones, and outlying districts, andorganise mobile sales trips to enable more consumers to buy their goods.
It also encourages firms to invest more in improving packaging and designs anddiversifying their products./.
VNA
