On September 26, 2021, VBF Co-Chairman Mr. Tetsu Funayama and VBF Board representatives attended the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Office of the Government to discuss solutions to promote production and support businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic. Local leaders from 63 provinces and around 1,200 enterprises also joined the meeting virtually.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Funayama proposed 4 recommendations to the Government to activate the “in COVID-19 mode” to improve business environment as follows:
- First, Vietnam should quickly deploy COVID-19 vaccines to restore supply chains by shifting approach from place-based isolation to a nationwide vaccination campaign, quickly setting up vaccination points across the country for workers (working in priority sectors) who returned home during the social distancing period to get vaccinated and soon have the chance to return to a workplace in the city and industrial parks. In addition, the “3 on the spot” model should only be maintained in very high-risk areas and those vaccinated workers should be allowed to drive back and forth between home and work.
- Second suggestion is for the recovery of the transport sector. Vietnam should remove inter-provincial travel restrictions for the vaccinated and prioritize vaccination of essential workers who transport goods.
- Third, Vietnam should have a centralized vaccination tracking system, allowing those with “a green certificate” and vaccinated visitors to enter Vietnam without going through a facility-based quarantine.
- Finally, it is a comprehensive financial development strategy. Vietnam should promote digitization of tax and customs administration, provide corporate income tax exemption and offer supports to service sector and start-ups. In addition, VBF would like to request that the State Bank of Vietnam consider flexible options in managing foreign currency loans of domestic financial institutions, offer low-interest loans, and increase the credit growth cap of commercial banks by 2 to 4% during the Covid-19 pandemic for expansion of bank credit in priority business sectors.
VBF Co-Chairman and also VCCI Chairman Mr. Pham Tan Cong recommended to focus on economic maintenance and development instead of focusing all of our efforts on disease control. Businesses play a pivotal role in the fight against Covid-19 and a key force on the economic front in the context of long-term living with the pandemic. He emphasized the Government’s supporting policies should be done at various levels and with appropriate road maps.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh appreciated businesses standing shoulder to shoulder with the Government in the COVID-19 fight in order to maintain production and business chains in a challenging period. Highlighting the important role the business community plays in national economic development, the PM expressed hope the community will continue to support the Government in getting through hard times and preparing for a new normal in the post-pandemic period. /.