Plan for supporting enterprises impacted by COVID-19 in HCMC by HCMC People’s Committee

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On the basis of recommendations of the City Business Association; to promptly and effectively respond to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic situation; working together, united with businesses, determined to overcome difficulties to successfully realize the dual goal of effective epidemic prevention and control, while recovering, stabilizing and developing socio-economic The People’s Committee promulgates a plan to support businesses affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in the city, specifically as follows:

I. PURPOSES, REQUIREMENTS:

1. Purposes:

a) Efficiently mobilize all resources, supporting domestic and foreign enterprises to maintain production and business activities where needed, operate effectively, and ensure safe conditions according to the criteria of the City People's Committee; thereby contributing to stabilizing economic growth, recovering and developing production and business when the epidemic is under control, ensuring state budget revenue and recurrent expenditure.

b) Maintain capital support and reduce costs for manufacturing enterprises to recover and develop production and business after the Covid-19 epidemic.

c) Ensuring social security, employment, health care, and life for employees; practical and effective support for employees and employers.

2. Requirements:

a) Departments, branches, and People's Committee of the city Thu Duc, districts continue to closely monitor the activities, actively grasp the difficulties of enterprises to promptly resolve or propose competent authorities to resolve with the spirit of maximum support for businesses and employees.

b) The departments and agencies in charge of the fields must proactively update the policy to support the new and propose immediate implementation with specific instructions, create favorable conditions for businesses and workers to approach these policies.

II. SUPPORT SOLUTIONS GROUPS:

1. Solutions to support in regards to credit:

a) Assign the State Bank of Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City Branch:

– Continue to direct credit institutions in the city to implement the State Bank of Vietnam's business support policy in the city in 2021 according to Circular No. 03/2021/ TT-NHNN dated April 2, 2021, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020, of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam providing for credit institutions, foreign bank branches to restructure debt repayment terms, exempt or reduce interest and fees, and maintain debt groups to support customers affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

– Research and propose the State Bank to deploy a credit package with preferential interest rates to reserve raw materials, supplies, and goods for enterprises producing and distributing essential goods to stabilize the market and restore production after the epidemic is under control; enterprises producing consumables serving the medical industry.

– Advise the City People's Committee to propose the Prime Minister to increase the level of support for businesses operating under the 3-on-the-spot model, a 2-destination route (or the model approved by the competent authorities for implementation, now referred to as 3T) higher than the current support on bank loans and simplification of procedures to support lending.

– Coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade, the City business associations, the People's Committee of Thu Duc city, districts, and credit institutions to promote the implementation of banking-enterprise connection programs, programs for price stabilization; capture information on the difficult business situation and promptly remove, especially credit procedures, facilitate businesses to access and update new support policies of the Government and Central bank.

b) Assign the Bank for Social Policies – Ho Chi Minh City Branch:

Preside and coordinate the Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs, Social Insurance, City, People's Committee of the city of Thu Duc districts to implement policies to support enterprises to borrow at 0% interest, no loan security is required to pay wages to employees who have to stop working due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic according to Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021, of the Government.

c) Assign the Department of Tourism to make a list and propose the implementation of support policies for tour guides according to Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021, of the Government.

d) Assign the Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development:

Coordinate with relevant agencies in propagating and disseminating the policy on loan interest support under the City's investment stimulus program as soon as it is considered and approved by the City People's Council; guide and support enterprises and organizations to carry out administrative procedures for projects participating in the Program in the fastest time, which can be shortened compared to regulations.

2. Solutions to support production and business organization, reduce costs and take care of employees' lives:

a) Assign the City Tax Department:

– Proactively deploying to businesses the support policy in Decree No. 52/2021/ND-CP dated April 19, 2021, of the Government on extending the deadline for payment of value-added tax, corporate income tax, personal income tax, and land rent in 2021; simple implementation procedures, quick and timely settlement.

– Advise the City People's Committee to propose the Government approve the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic as a force majeure accident so that businesses can receive a 50% reduction in land rent during the period of stopping production and business according to regulations at point c, clause 1, Article 20 of the Government's Decree No. 46/2014/ND-CP stipulating the collection of land and water surface rents. Actively develop a plan to support land rent for businesses, especially those operating in the tourism sector, right after getting the Prime Minister's opinion.

– Advise the City People's Committee to propose to the Prime Minister increase the support level for 3T enterprises higher than the current tax support level and simplify support procedures.

b) Assign the City’s EVN to:

– Implement policies to support electricity price reduction for people and businesses in the city according to Resolution No. 83/NQ-CP dated July 31, 2021, of the Government on electricity price reduction plan (phase 4) for customers using electricity.

– Continue to propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the policy of reducing the price of producing electricity and exempting the electricity bills of workers in 3T enterprises as the policy for concentrated isolation areas.

c) Assign SAWACO:

– Continue to implement the policy of exempting domestic water usage fees for concentrated isolation areas (no charge) during the period from month (period) June to the end of December 31, 2021.

– Implement the policy of reducing 10% domestic water usage fee for all water users in the city during the period from month (period) September to month (period) November 2021.

– Advise and propose to the City People's Committee to implement the policy of exemption and reduction of water use fees for 3T enterprises; extending the water usage fee until the end of

December 31, 2021.

d) Assign the Department of Industry and Trade:

– Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, advising on classifying enterprises according to the degree of being affected by the Covid-19 epidemic and the impact on the city's socio-economic, including 3 groups of enterprises: bankruptcy, paused, active (3T model); on that basis, review and analyze the operation situation, difficulties, and problems of each group, and propose appropriate policies.

– Advise and propose criteria to identify businesses that need to be prioritized to focus and support with focus, focus, and achieve quick results, right in August, with a list of priorities according to industry fields. Research and report to the City People's Committee the plan to submit to the City People's Council on the policy of cost support for 3T enterprises if eligible and feasible.

– Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Department of Health and relevant agencies in, advising and proposing the City's People's Committee to promulgate regulations on production and business activities to ensure safety, prevent and control the epidemic so that businesses can return to operate with a specific route, which can be opened step by step to check the safety and adjust to suit the situation; In the immediate future, piloting a number of industrial parks and export processing zones has completed the second injection of vaccine to ensure safety against epidemics and production.

– Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Department of Health, the Department of Transport, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the People's Committee of Thu Duc city and districts in guiding the development of a set of safety criteria and standards, and response scenarios at 3T enterprises, including safe production site, safe management, safe labor, safe production scale, response plans, handling possible situations occurred in the work of epidemic prevention and control…; how to organize appraisal and guide enterprises to form quick response squads at enterprises, creating maximum conditions for enterprises to maintain production and business.

dd) Assign the Department of Transport:

– Actively monitor and coordinate with the local Department of Transport to advise and propose solutions to facilitate the circulation of goods when passing through the Covid-19 epidemic control points between provinces and cities, under the direction of the Prime Minister not to control goods when passing through the checkpoints, to give priority to vehicles eligible for normal circulation, to limit traffic jams at the checkpoints of the local authorities.

– To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the City's professional associations in, timely granting circulation permits for goods transport vehicles of 3T enterprises.

e) Assign the City Police to take the lead in guiding and implementing the method of identification and control of those who are allowed to travel, ensuring flexibility and science, but absolutely no traffic jams.

f) Assign the People's Committee of Thu Duc city and districts to:

– Responsible for organizing vaccination for employees in enterprises. Vaccines are provided by the State, enterprises are responsible for negotiating with private or public vaccination units coordinated by the state to organize vaccination, ensuring the principle that the person receiving the vaccine does not have to pay any costs.

– Develop a plan, determine the number of people to be vaccinated and actively coordinate with the Department of Health to distribute the vaccine.

– Coordinating with the Department of Industry and Trade, the City Business Association, the City's Management Board of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks, the City's Hi-Tech Park Management Board, and Quang Trung Software Park Development Company to organize vaccination for employees in enterprises in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and enterprises 3T with a specific agenda, focus, focus that suits actual requirements.

g) Assign Department of Health:

– Actively advise the City People's Committee to work with the Ministry of Health and related

agencies to strive to ensure there is enough vaccine for the City.

– Advise the City People's Committee to propose a mechanism to allow businesses to actively negotiate and buy vaccines from international as well as domestic sources. Specifying the list of vaccines used and the procedures to be carried out, creating the most favorable conditions to utilize the resources of enterprises in vaccination work, reducing the pressure on the budget and human resources for the City.

– Synthesize and immediately publish on the portal the list of people who have been vaccinated on the national vaccination information system.

– Develop guidelines for handling F0, F1 at the place of production and business; clearly define the responsibilities of the government, local health authorities, and businesses in organizing testing and tracing; supporting businesses to handle possible situations, creating conditions to help businesses resume operations as quickly as possible.

– Guide enterprises to build a list of equipment and rapid tests can be used to enable enterprises to proactively organize rapid tests for the workforce (incidental or symptomatic) and mechanisms recognition of test results of the business itself.

h) Assign the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to:

– Urgently complete the implementation of support policies according to Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021, of the Government and Resolution No. 09/2021/NQ-HDND dated June 25, 2021, of the City People's Council.

Submit to the City People's Committee for promulgation the salary increase adjustment coefficient to determine the salary cost and labor cost of direct production labor in the price, the unit price of public products and services in the city (according to Notice No. 919/TB-VP dated December 29, 2020, of the Office of the City People's Committee).

i) Assign the Department of Planning and Investment to advise and organize an online meeting between City leaders and foreign business associations and foreign-invested enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City on solutions to remove difficulties, promote production and business in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in August 2021 to promptly listen to difficulties, capture information, timely supplement and supplement support solutions for businesses.

3. Solutions to support market expansion:

a) Assign the City Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Planning and Investment, and relevant agencies:

– Support enterprises to participate in fairs, online trade channels deployed by foreign organizations to support export enterprises, find new markets instead of traditional markets.

– Organize meetings of the Association, the foreign investors, enterprises of foreign investment (FDI) to share, support enterprises to overcome difficulties, create conditions for putting production activities, trading quickly stabilized again.

– Organized a series of events of Ho Chi Minh City Corporate Product Week in the city and domestic provinces after the epidemic was controlled to support businesses to consume domestic goods, connect value chains, raw material areas, providing high-quality products to provinces and cities, and expanding domestic markets and distribution channels.

– Organizing export product exhibitions at export showrooms in Ho Chi Minh City; supporting businesses to introduce and promote products at international fairs and exhibitions associated with the business connection (B2B), connection with consumers (B2C) of the host country; connecting with overseas Vietnamese business associations in other countries to support businesses to establish relationships, timely capture information about potential export markets.

– Organize a number of conferences, seminars, export forums, seminars on market information, commodity industries, and international economic integration to support enterprises to update market information and select products.

b) Assign the Department of Industry and Trade to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Information and Communications, the Investment and Trade Promotion Center, and other relevant agencies.

– Research and propose the establishment of a product distribution chain in the city; supporting businesses to consume domestic goods, connect value chains, raw material areas, provide high-quality products to provinces and expand domestic markets and distribution channels.

– Advise the City People's Committee on solutions to support business development and mechanical – automation products, food processing products, and plastic and rubber products in 2021; solutions to support the development of key industrial products and potential industrial products of the City in 2021 according to the list approved in Decision No. 430/QD-UBND dated February 5, 2021, of the City People's Committee; effectively implement the Plan to support enterprises whose products are recognized as "Typical industrial products and supporting industries of Ho Chi Minh City in 2020" in accordance with actual requirements and practicality of business; actively advise on solutions to support enterprises in the field of supporting industries to improve production capacity, invest in renewing machinery and equipment, and expand markets to participate in the supply chain of FDI enterprises.

– Continue to effectively implement the market stabilization program. Develop plans and implement investment, trade, and tourism promotion activities on the basis of grasping the actual needs of businesses in 2021. Organize a conference to connect supply and demand between Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities; organize specialized field forums (export, industry…).

c) Assign Department of Tourism:

Organize a booth and introduce the program to stimulate tourism in Ho Chi Minh City at the Tourism Festival 2021; participate in consumer promotion month in Ho Chi Minh City; Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair 2021 (ITE HCMC 2021); complete and update tourism stimulus website and tourism stimulus publications. Organize annual tourism activities and events in the city to ensure compliance with the epidemic situation, with the principle of safety for tourists.

d) Assign the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to:

– Develop support norms for each type of project, item, and work for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas in the city.

– Organize the trade promotion program to consume key agricultural products and OCOP products in 2021.

– Advising the City People's Committee to support free stalls for agricultural product production and trading units in the city and provinces and cities when participating in fairs and exhibitions to create favorable conditions for units to introduce products, find business partners, expand consumption markets.

4. Solutions to support information and human resource training:

a) Assign Department of Information and Communications:

– Coordinating Association for Ho Chi Minh City to implement plans and programs to support enterprises to accelerate the digital transformation, gradually raise the efficiency of the process of restructuring the economy, convert the manufacturing sector business, process innovation and production technology; step by step transform the service economy into digitization such as e-commerce, digital economy, sharing economy, promote the development of online platforms in the fields of education and health.

– Develop a plan to organize training courses on digital transformation for businesses.

– Proposing to build a transparent mechanism on open data sources in the public sector so that technology enterprises can access digital resources to develop innovative products and services according to Decree No. 47/ 2020/ND-CP dated April 9, 2020, of the Government on management, connection and sharing of digital data of state agencies.

– Proposing to set up a channel to receive and answer information about Covid-19 for foreigners. Additional information content in English on the Covid-19 portal in Ho Chi Minh City.

b) Assign Department of Tourism:

Develop a plan to organize training and retraining to improve management and operation skills and professional skills for the tourism human resource team in order to restructure and improve the quality of the workforce in the tourism industry in the city, retaining this force in conditions affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

III. ORGANIZATION FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. Request the heads of departments, agencies, Chairman of People's Committees City Thu Duc districts immediately deploy the solution, the above tasks right in August 2021, focuses on solutions to support business households and businesses to quickly resume operations in the new normal state.

2. Heads of departments and agencies, Chairman of People's Committees City Thu Duc, Chairman of districts regularly, actively grasp the difficulties and problems of enterprises; expeditiously handle the contents of the functions and authority, if necessary, quickly coordinate with relevant departments and districts to immediately remove them for businesses, without delay. In case of exceeding authority, quickly report and propose to the City People's Committee for direction.

3. The Department of Planning and Investment needs to strengthen its role as a standing agency of the Working Group to support businesses affected by the Covid-19 epidemic according to Decision No. 2019/QD-UBND dated June 3, 2021, of the City People's Committee, regularly monitors, urges and summarizes the implementation situation of the Departments, branches, People's Committee of Thu Duc city, districts, reports and advises the City People’s Committee to direct in the removal of difficulties for businesses, ensure production and business activities, social security and support workers in accordance with the epidemic situation in the city.

4. The Department of Finance proactively advises and resolves issues related to funding sources from the City budget, especially tasks that incur costs for implementation, and submit them to the City People's Committee for approval.

5. The City Business Association and the City's professional associations need to promote their role as a focal point, as a bridge to guide businesses and members to directly contact the authorities or regularly gather difficulties and problems of enterprises to transfer to relevant departments for quick and timely resolution; create all the most favorable conditions for businesses to recover soon, maintain production and business activities, contribute to the city's well-implementation of the dual goals of effective epidemic prevention and socio-economic development at the same time to achieve the highest results.

The above is a plan to support businesses, organizations, and employees affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City. Requesting the heads of departments, departments, and branches of the city, the President of Thu Duc city, districts and related agencies and units to urgently implement./.

CHAIRMAN NGUYEN THANH PHONG