Vietnamese firms make every effort to overcome 'COVID-19 storm'

A worker of the Viet Trang Production and Export Co. Ltd is making sedge products (Photo: Collaborator/VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing adverse impacts on people’s lives and the socio-economic situation in all parts of the world. Forced into a corner, Vietnamese enterprises have had to try their best to overcome difficulties. 

Though the economy was forecast to recover slowly and face various challenges ahead as variants of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spread widely, the examples set by small-sized enterprises to surmount the difficulties and challenges would be lessons for and have given strength to the whole business community to overcome the “COVID-19 storm”.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and has caused a wide range of difficulties for production and business activities of numerous enterprises, including our company,” said Mai Thi Anh Dao, Director for Business at Viet Trang Production and Export Co. Ltd. 

She recalled more than 700 days of successfully overcoming the “COVID-19 storm”, together with over 600 women in Nga Son district of the central province of Thanh Hoa.

Various difficulties 

Having created jobs for hundreds of women as weavers, artisans and material processors for sedge knitting, the Viet Trang Production and Export Co. Ltd has exported its products to European, US and Australian markets. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, the export markets’ doors immediately closed down.

“Our customers halted and cancelled their orders, so our products were left in stock. Our company did not receive any new orders while all trade promotion and sale activities, such as fairs and meetings with partners, were delayed or disrupted,” Dao said, thinking back to the first days when the pandemic broke out.

Before this disaster had ended, another plight came as a greater challenge appeared: global supply chains were disrupted.

Marine shipping costs kept rising, reaching 10-15 times higher than pre-pandemic levels, she said.

Many local businesses also faced a severe shortage of containers and they had to wait month after month, Dao said, adding that there was no sign the situation would come to an end.

Most enterprises nationwide faced the same plight, with rising material prices, shortages of capital, and closure of factories due to prolonged social distancing.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Hoang Quang Phong unveiled a VCCI survey that showed the pandemic posed adverse impacts on nearly 94 percent of domestic businesses and forced 91 percent of enterprises to reduce their workforce.

The Ong Tho Rice Joint Stock Company buys paddy from farmers (Photo: Collaborator/VietnamPlus)

Confronting or giving up?

Since July 2021, the pandemic in the southern region entered the fiercest phase, requiring the imposition of social distancing restrictions which caused more difficulties for the business community. However, many local enterprises swiftly adapted to the situation by applying new models to maintain production and business activities such as “three-on-spot”, “one route-two destinations” and “three green”.

“Black swan are the words that many enterprises used to call the social crisis when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out,” said Duong Thanh Thao, Director of Ong Tho Rice Joint Stock Company.

When the pandemic caused strong social distancing measures in southern provinces and cities, the Ong Tho Rice Joint Stock Company began negotiating to buy paddy from local farmers.

However, due to restrictions, direct meetings between the company’s staff and farmers had to be reduced to minimise COVID-19 infections. 

The company had to switch from direct meetings to the online format. Its leadership mapped out a plan and discussed with experts and the local authorities to assist farmers in using the online meeting app Zoom. After more than one week, local cadres and the company’s staff completed the installation and guided farmers to use the Zoom app smoothly. Training courses on cultivation techniques and processes were provided for farmers via the app, thus ensuring the progress of the project.

To sustain production and business activities during the pandemic, the most important thing was to ensure the health of employees, said Le Thi Hoai Thuong, Vice Director of Viet Pepper Ltd. Co.

To overcome these difficulties, businesses must reach consensus among their leaders and employees and, at the same time, they must guarantee the health of their workers, she added./.