Vietnamese Prime Minister approved a 62-trillion-dong support package, on 9 April, 2020, targeting seriously Covid-19 affected employees and businesses. “When to get the money?” is the concern of civilians and enterprises. In addition, many economics and social security experts believe that an additional direct support package for enterprises is also needed. Mr. Nguyen Quang Huan – President of Halcom Vietnam, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Private Business Association (VPBA) and Ms. Pham Nguyen Cuong – an independent expert on social, labor and employment participated in the “Sunday Forum” program broadcast live on VOV1 – the news channel, Voice of Vietnam on 12 April, 2020, discussing on these topics.
CLICK HERE FOR THE RECORD OF THE LIVE INTERVIEW ON VOV1 (in Vietnamese).
According to the Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), about 20 million people belonging to seven affected groups will benefit from the support package. The need for this package is clear, and according to Mr. Nguyen Quang Huan, this will first be a very positive impact on the spirit of civilians as well as businesses.
“When will we get the support finance?” – The concern of civilians and enterprises
According to Ms. Cuong, the finance supporting to affected employees will be paid very soon in late April and early May of 2020. To do this, under the direction of MOLISA and supervision of the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front, social agencies and provincial People’s Committees will need to handle with a huge amount of work to deploy promptly, consistently, publicly, transparently to ensure proper support to the right subjects and avoid profiteering.
Regarding the subject of enterprises, Mr. Huan emphasized the urgency of specific guidelines from authorities or business associations and a road map step by step with timeline in order to avoid misleading and embarrassing implementation.
“The support package to affected employees is very specific. To enterprises with different types of business and production, facing different levels of difficulty, it is suggested that: Firstly, there should be specific instructions to classify which business will be supported, even local authorities will find it difficult to specify this. It is important to make enterprises feel persuaded, fair, undoubted. Criteria for classification and screening on which enterprise will get support are clearly essential. Secondly, we need a given timeline for each step: defining criteria, approving, and receiving support. Thirdly, transparency and fairness must be ensured through a supervising authority.” – said by Mr. Nguyen Quang Huan.
Is an additional direct support package for enterprises also needed?
Mr. Huan fully supports this proposal, “All parts of the economy must be good to ensure a well-being economy. If the focus is only on employees, not on the business group as well, when enterprises go bankrupt or dissolve, that is employees of those enterprises who will turn to be vulnerable and need support from the Government, so this is an unending story. On the other hand, when enterprises close, the State will lose revenue earned from business activities, and less revenue will lead to inability to provide any support.” Mr. Huan said that governments of almost countries have limited resources to support all objects, so it is essential to conduct a comprehensive study in all aspects and thorough considerations. This is an extremely difficult issue to the Government that need the involvement of experts and consultants. The decision on which enterprises, which industries to provide support requires care, fairness and efficiency in the future.
Agreeing with the Mr. Huan’s point of view, Ms. Cuong emphasized on the appropriate time to provide financial support to enterprises, which should be based on the actual business plan and schedule of each enterprise. This requires a clear assessment of not only each business itself, but also associations and local authorities in order to ensure effective support.
Mr. Huan strongly calls for self-esteem and business ethics from the enterprises themselves in the context of a general difficult situation. Financial support needs to be prioritized to those who face the most difficult situation as it is impossible to support all 100% of enterprises. The business community needs to support each other, share and together overcome this hard time.
An emergency support package is needed, but it is much more important to conduct with care, especially in the current socio-economic context and internal economic power of Vietnam in comparison with the regional and international levels. Hopefully, with the proactive and integration of both Vietnamese people and enterprises, all difficulties will be overcome easier and the national economy will recover quickly.