Many support policies to help enterprises overcome pandemic in Vietnam

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has just issued a resolution to support businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to which about 1 million enterprises will receive credit support, and 160,000 businesses will be extended, exemption, reduction of taxes and fees.

The goal is to help enterprises overcome difficulties

The goal of the resolution is to remove difficulties, obstacles and bottlenecks hindering production and business activities of enterprises, reduce the number of enterprises temporarily suspending operation, dissolution, bankruptcy, and soon control the epidemic, restore production and business.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, that the Government's promulgation of a resolution to support businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the coming time will come to 1 million businesses and customers to enjoy credit support, 160,000 enterprises are entitled to policies on extension, exemption and reduction of taxes, fees and land rents; about 50,000 businesses will return to operation in 2021.

In addition, there are hundreds of thousands enterprises that are entitled to support for electricity, water, telecommunications charges, policies to support employees, employers, and training.

Group of four support solutions

The content of draft resolution to support businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic also offers four groups of tasks and solutions.

1. The first solutions is to apply flexible and effective measures ofepidemic prevention and control measures, creating conditions for businesses to maintain production and business activities; to rationally and effectively allocate vaccine resources against COVID-19.

Moreover, this solution will add prioritized subjects for vaccination including employees of enterprises in key economic zones, industrial zones, industrial clusters and enterprises in the supply chain that have production orders, import-export activities; employ a lot of workers who may high-contact each other.

2. The second solution is to ensure stable production, smooth and efficient circulation of goods, and to overcome supply chain disruptions. The Ministry of transport shall guide localities to uniformly implement the "Green lane" for road and waterway transport across the country, without stipulating additional conditions to obstruct traffic, and to coordinate with the Ministry of Health in promulgating rules for safe transport in epidemic prevention and control.

3. The third solution is to cut costs and remove difficulties of cash flow for enterprises. The Government assigned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to guide Vietnam Social Insurance to investigate and propose policies to suspend and reduce the payment of social insurance in 2021.

The Ministry of Transport is assigned to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank to make a plan to support air transport enterprises, then report to the Prime Minister in September 2021.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade survey and reports to the Prime Minister, which leads to a plan for reducing electricity prices for warehouses of logistics enterprises, agro-forestry-fishery processing enterprises and a number of commodity industries with export turnover of over 1 billion VND in 2020 USD. Moreover, a plan should be made to reduce electricity prices for tourist accommodation establishments.

The Ministry of Finance urgently:

- Implements the issued policy of relaxing and reducing taxes, fees, charges and land rental.

- Implement tax incentives for imported goods donated to serve the prevention and control of the VOVID-19 epidemic.

- Makes research and submit to the Prime Minister to continue to extend the payment of special consumption tax for cars manufactured and assembled domestically until the end of 2021

- To assess the impact of the epidemic for consideration to reduce registration fees for domestically manufactured and assembled cars.

The Government also assigned the State Bank:

- To encourage credit institutions to reduce costs to continue reducing interest rates on existing loans and new loans to support production and business.

- Urgently restructure the repayment term, exempt or reduce interest and fees, and maintain the same debt group with customers affected by COVID-19.

4. The fourth solution on labor and experts, the Government requires Ministries to flexibly apply and relax the conditions for granting and extending work permits for foreign experts working in Vietnam in accordance with the current context.