Ministry listens to firms" difficulties, pledges to raise support

Hà Nam Textile Company in Phủ Lý, Hà Nam. Enterprises are encountering a number of difficulties after the COVID-19 pandemic and needed support to promote business and production recovery. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

The Ministry of Planning and Investment will propose policies to remove obstacles for enterprises and enable them to seize opportunities to accelerate production and business, Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng said.

Dũng promised at a meeting on Monday to listen to the difficulties of enterprises and raise solutions for the second half of this year, saying it was important to identify advantages and opportunities, as well as challenges, to raise policies to support enterprises and enable them to participate and not miss any chances.

Enterprises are encountering a number of difficulties after the COVID-19 pandemic which has heavily socio-economic activities hard during the past two years.

Labour shortages are one of the most common challenges facing industries.

According to Nguyễn Quốc Hiệp, Chairman of the Việt Nam Association of Construction Contractors, the construction sector uses a lot of seasonal workers. However, after a long time of being affected by the pandemic, the sector faces a serious shortage of workers. Although payment for workers increased by around 20-30 per cent, many enterprises failed to find enough workers.

In the aviation industry, one of the hardest hit, some highly qualified technicians and managers have left the industry, causing a labour shortage while the aviation market was recovering. Facing the same situation, the workforce in the tourism industry declined by 55-60 per cent as the industry was hit by the virus.

Chairman of the Việt Nam Tourism Association Vũ Thế Bình said that enterprises needed support in human resource training so that enterprises could seize opportunities as the tourism market becomes more robust after the pandemic.

Phạm Thị Tình from the Vietnam Alliance for Industrial Support said that in industries which need high-quality workers, such as electronics, processing and manufacturing, after a long time off work to fight against the virus spread, the skills of workers were reduced and it would take time and money to retrain.

Associations at the meeting said that it was necessary to develop training programmes to provide skilled workers that meet enterprises’ demands.

Another problem was the pressure from skyrocketing prices of raw materials and logistics services, and international disputes that have caused fuel prices to rise dramatically.

Bùi Văn Nề proposed the environmental protection fee on jet fuel to be reduced to zero and support policies on fees and charges for air transport companies to be extended until the international flight market recovers.

Rising prices are also a burden for garment and textile, logistics and construction industries.

According to Trương Văn Cẩn, Deputy Chairman of the Việt Nam Textile and Apparel Association, the prices of cotton, petrol and oil have all increased. While the yuan, won and yen fell by more than 15 per cent, Vietnamese đồng decreased by just 1.8 per cent, which is detrimental to exporters.

Cẩn said that it was necessary for monetary policies to continue stabilising prices so that enterprises do not lose their advantage.

Container transportation rates remain much higher than the pre-pandemic level, which also created significant pressure on enterprises, Nguyễn Hoài Nam, Deputy General Secretary of the Việt Nam Seafood Exporters and Producers said.

General Secretary of the Việt Nam Logistics Association Nguyễn Duy Minh said that attention must be paid to improving the logistics planning together with strengthening the digital transformation of the logistics industry to reduce costs.

As logistics fees were closely related to the competitiveness of export products and investment attraction, Minh said that relevant ministries should work with shipping lines to lower freight rates. — VNS