Covid-19 vaccination - a must to survive businesses
Many Vietnamese businesses are seeking ways to access the Covid-19 vaccines, which is not only to survive the pandemic but also promote production and trade, say experts at a seminar co-held by Kinh te & Do thi newspaper and its partners on May 21 in Hanoi.
Representatives of Hanoi businesses and state management agencies shared with Hanoitimes that the use of vaccines is necessary for local enterprises to cope with the current increasingly complicated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
| Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Photos: Thanh Hai |
Over the past year, the government has adopted a host of policies to support businesses to recover from the pandemic. However, the implementation of the policies has left much to be desired.
I think that, among support measures, institutional policies are very important, for example, promoting job growth, streamlining investment, and export-import procedures, among others.
In addition to the above measures, Vietnamese enterprises have raised two necessary vaccines for them to withstand the current health crisis, including the medical vaccine and the other which is transparent governance.
For the medical vaccine, the prime minister has assigned relevant authorities to purchase vaccines to curb the spread of the disease in the near future.
Nguyen Minh Duc, Editor-in-Chief of Economic & Urban newspaper
| Nguyen Minh Duc, Editor-in-Chief of Economic & Urban newspaper |
We cannot fight the pandemic in the normal way, but follow the world trend: there must be vaccines that will help the country achieve the dual goals which are fighting Covid-19 and boosting socio-economic growth.
Only vaccines can save the world and Vietnam in such a context. The government also announced a plan to establish a fund to acquire 150 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for the people. As such, the country will face the challenge about how to operate this fund, defining the responsibility of the government, ministries, and sectors, along with the businesses' cooperation with the government to save themselves, as well as contributing to society.
Mac Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Small and Medium Enterprises Association
| Mac Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Small and Medium Enterprises Association |
Recently, most manufacturers in Hanoi have encountered a shortage of orders. Even though the government has issued many solutions and support packages to revive them, still administrative procedures must be further streamlined in a faster and more transparent way so that businesses could benefit from those policies.
It is imperative to identify the right beneficiaries based on precise and specific criteria, as well as closely monitoring the use of support sources to ensure the effectiveness of the policy.
Phan Duc Hieu, Vice Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management
| Phan Duc Hieu, Vice Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management |
We cannot separate businesses from the fight against the pandemic. Besides maintaining current positive solutions such as postponement and deferral of payment of taxes, the government needs to be more proactive and innovative in building supporting packages, focusing on targeted groups.
Regarding preventive measures, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of vaccines. If we are late in purchasing and using vaccines in the community, we cannot safely co-exist with Covid-19 and will lose the opportunity to catch up with the world trend.
Therefore, I suggest that, in addition to buying vaccines with public funding, the government should have a mechanism for businesses to directly buy vaccines for their workers. The government's decisions on vaccines need to be very fast, very timely for businesses.
Than Duc Viet, General Director of Garment 10
| Than Duc Viet, General Director of Garment 10 |
I believe local enterprises are willing to accompany the government to involve the private resources in the vaccine purchase. We think that the garment industry and other labor-intensive sectors should be the priorities for vaccination. Currently, the cost of a vaccine dose is only one-third of the cost of a Covid-19 test, so vaccination is a fundamental, long-term and economical solution.
The Government has issued Resolution No. 21 on the purchase and use of Covid-19 vaccines, we hope this resolution will be implemented soon.
Nguyen Xuan Phu, Chairman of Sunhouse, a household appliance provider
| Nguyen Xuan Phu, Chairman of Sunhouse, a household appliance provider |
Any business may be at risk, not only because of the pandemic but also many social factors. How to cope with risks while stably carrying on with production is an issue of every enterprise. The enterprise needs to foresee the situation as well as preparing prevention plans. Sometimes savings should be used in extremely difficult or risky periods.
The Covid-19 disease could not be thoroughly stamped out and we must co-exist with it wisely.
