Lesson 1: Not alone beyond a pandemic

The COVID-19 epidemic caused a global economic crisis, was the main cause of the recession of businesses (DN), especially small and medium enterprises. The sectors of industry and construction, agriculture and ancillary, finance-banking-insurance ... were heavily affected, many businesses were closed, operating in moderation, many workers were laid off, job loss, income reduction. In response to practical requirements, to remove difficulties for production and business, the Prime Minister has issued Directive 11 / CT-TTg dated March 4, 2020 with many supporting policies to help businesses not be alone in their implementation. COVID-19 pandemic process.

A series of measures to stimulate the economy of the Government are shown through the policy of implementing support packages in many fields such as: monetary support package of about 300 trillion dong; financial support package 180 trillion dong; social security support package 62 trillion VND; electricity price support package of 12 trillion dong; telecommunications service support package of 15 trillion VND ... Enterprises will enjoy policies on capital, credit, insurance, taxes and many other policies such as: 10% discount on retail electricity prices for industries. production and business; delaying the time of payment of trade union fees; only sanctioned administrative violations of enterprises that owe social insurance (social insurance) from December 31, 2016 onwards; to borrow money to pay work stoppage wages to employees; exemption and reduction of interest and fees according to the internal regulations of the credit institution ...

First of all, the monetary support package raised from VND 250 trillion to about VND 300 trillion will be launched by banks to give new customers with preferential interest rates reduced from 0.5% -1.5% / year. Enterprises and business households affected by COVID-19 are considered for a new loan from this credit package to restore production and business activities. In particular, the State Bank of Vietnam has recently made a strong move to reduce a series of executive interest rates, of which the ceiling interest rate for short-term VND loans at banks has dropped to only 5.5% per year; The refinancing rate decreased to only 5% / year and discounted to 3.5% ...

In that spirit, the State Bank of the province directs credit institutions in the area to balance, fully and promptly meet the capital needs for production and business, to apply support measures such as: Restructure the repayment term, consider exemption or reduction of loan interests, maintain the debt group, reduce fees ... for customers facing difficulties due to the impact of COVID-19. As of April 23, the whole provincial banking sector has supported nearly 720 customers affected by COVID-19 with a total outstanding loans of VND 5,079.1 billion. Customers enjoying preferential policies mainly in the fields of production and processing of agricultural and aquatic products; accommodation and catering services; transportation and storage; educations. In order to promptly apply measures to remove difficulties for businesses, production households and businesses in the new situation, banks and credit institutions continue to statistic and review customers affected by COVID. -19, ensuring capital is delivered to the right beneficiaries.

For the fiscal support package, right from the beginning of March, the General Department of Taxation issued Official Letter No. 897 / TCT - QLN on extension of tax payment, exemption of late payment interest due to the impact of COVID-19 epidemic. In that spirit, the Department of Finance has issued an official letter to coordinate with the Tax Department in reviewing the implementing subject. Expected package of extension support value added tax, personal income tax and land rent is 1,770 billion.

Along with taxes, insurance is also a burden for businesses, especially in the context that many businesses are almost falling into a state of "hibernation" caused by epidemics. To share this burden, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issued Official Letter No. 797 / LĐTBXH-BHXH dated 9-3-2020; Vietnam Social Insurance Agency issued Official Letter No. 860 / BHXH-BT dated March 17, 2020 providing guidance on suspending payment to retirement and survivorship for enterprises facing difficulties due to COVID-19 epidemic. Time of pause until the end of June -2020. After that, if the epidemic has not been reduced and the enterprise has requested it, it will still be considered and resolved to suspend payment until December 2020. In particular, during the period of temporary suspension of payment to the retirement and death fund, there is no specialized inspection, or inspection of compliance with the laws on social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance for enterprises ( if the company shows no sign of violation) ...

Along with supporting policies of the Government, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Huong Giang signed to issue the “Plan for implementing Directive No. 11 dated 4-3-2020 of the Prime Minister on the tasks and solutions. solutions to overcome difficulties for production and business, ensuring social security to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic ”. Accordingly, the People's Committee of the province requires the State Bank of the province to direct the branches of banks and credit institutions in the area to balance, fully and promptly meet capital needs for production, business, and reforming administrative procedures, shortening time to review loan application, improving customers' access to capital; promoting non-cash payments, e-payment service fee exemption and reduction programs to directly support service users, especially online payment fees for public administrative services. The Department of Industry and Trade presides over and coordinates with relevant departments and sectors to report the current situation, demand for input materials, and propose solutions to diversify and ensure sufficient supply for production activities of DN; forecasting the needs of domestic and international markets, thereby taking measures to ensure raw materials for production and business and plans to organize production, distribution, circulation, and supply of goods. consumer demand; speed up the implementation of investment projects to build infrastructure of industrial clusters to boost production activities; propose supportive policies suitable to groups of industries heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and import substitution domestic enterprises producing components and intermediate products. The Customs Department ensures customs clearance, promptly removing difficulties and problems in goods import and export activities. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Management Board of industrial zones of the province, related units, and localities to have a plan to support enterprises to find alternative labor sources in case of labor shortage, foreign experts…

With the timely implementation of preeminent policies, many businesses have partly solved difficulties, restored production, and created momentum when the epidemic ended.

Lesson 2: Remove difficulties for businesses to access supportive policies

 Although the Government and the province have many supporting policies to remove difficulties for production and business, there are still problems and limitations in the implementation process, so it is necessary to join hands to resolve. so that businesses (DN) can access this support.

Although the Government and ministries and branches are very drastic in supporting enterprises to overcome difficulties, in reality there are still many problems that need to be solved in time so that enterprises can soon enjoy supportive policies. According to many businesses, the support packages of credit, tax, social insurance (social insurance) ... are considered as an effective solution to help businesses stay stable and revive production in the current difficult period.

However, the problem lies in the approach. For the credit package is currently in the autonomy of commercial banks, while commercial banks are also businesses that are always under pressure on business results, profits ..., Currently many The bank has identified a companion, shared difficulties for businesses, accepted to reduce revenue and profits through reducing lending interest rates, restructuring debts ... but banks still have to ensure their goals. The core is credit safety quality, maintaining the health of banking operations. Therefore, in order to support businesses, banks must calculate in very detail the repayment capacity of businesses.

Enterprises that are weak or do not demonstrate the ability to repay debts cannot access them. Some businesses need capital to borrow new loans to pay for the old due date, but production is stagnant, businesses that do not have enough collateral, they cannot borrow. In order to be eligible to access the support packages, businesses need to prove their eligibility, provide sufficient procedures such as: Must make audit reports, assess damage, prove liquidity; Enterprises that want to reschedule must have certification, proof of damage, report, and inventory confirmation ... Moreover, the credit support package of 300 trillion dong is a new loan package with low interest rates, but in reality, Many enterprises had to operate in moderation and stopped working not because of lack of capital but because of a serious decline in demand, and stagnant global production chain, so even with low interest rates, it was very difficult for businesses to "absorb "Gets this new line of credit. 

Mr. Man Van Khac, Director of Van Loi Company Limited (Dong Tho Industrial Zone, Yen Phong) shared: “The company specializes in aluminum production and additional processing products for motorbikes and cars for enterprises in and abroad. But for more than a month, due to the influence of COVID-19 epidemic, enterprises have to stop production because some big partners such as Honda, Toyota, LG ... have to close because of implementing social gap measures. During the time off, the Company still has to pay workers at the minimum wage, bear interest from banks, insurance premiums, electricity bills ... estimated at more than 1 billion VND / month, excluding depreciation of assets. Currently, the Government has deployed many support packages for enterprises affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, although the company is also affected a lot but is not eligible for the support policies that the unit needs. Meanwhile, having the benefit package is not close to the needs of businesses. For example, the package of support for deferring payment of corporate income tax, VAT, and land rental is enjoyed, but now the enterprise has stopped operating with no revenue; Land rental, the enterprise has paid off once. With the credit package, businesses are ceasing to operate so there is no need for new loans, meanwhile, banks only reduce lending rates for new loans, not reduce old loans… ”.

According to Mr. Do Huy Trung, Director of Tri Duc Company Limited (Xuan Lam Industrial Complex, Thuan Thanh), specializing in garment processing for export mainly to European and American countries, from the beginning of the year until now, due to the influence of COVID -19, The company continuously struggled from input to output. Some orders still keep but ask for a 20% discount and not receive the goods until June. Therefore, the company's revenue decreased by more than 20% compared to the previous months, profit was almost no. The company tries to persevere in creating jobs and retaining workers. Currently the Company has 300 workers, each month, they have to spend nearly 3 billion VND on wages, insurance, electricity, lunch for workers ... But if the epidemic does not end in the second quarter, the Company must give workers. temporarily resign and mobilize other channels to pay minimum wages to retain workers. Mr. Trung said: “The Government and province are implementing a lot of support packages for businesses affected by COVID-19. But currently, new businesses can reduce interest rates at 0.5% / year in new loan packages, old loans have not been reduced. The tax support package, because of the specificity of the export and import processing garment, there is no VAT, and personal income tax is also negligible. The policy of suspending payment of the retirement and death fund, businesses also cannot access because the number of employees participating in social insurance must temporarily take leave from 50% of the total number of employees present before stopping production. do business or more than 50% of the total property value is lost due to natural disasters, fires, epidemics or crop failures (excluding the value of property being land). Therefore, paying social insurance is difficult, firing staff is not good. Obviously, there is a very attractive policy, but it is bound to many conditions, so businesses cannot approach… ”.  Not only small businesses but also large potential enterprises such as Duc Thang wood handicraft company in Dong Ky (Tu Son town), Dap Cau Garment Corporation, Thi Cau ward (Bac Ninh city) ... are also in love. The situation is very difficult due to the impact of COVID-19 translation. Currently, these businesses have to cut a number of working days, working hours, even let the workers quit their jobs alternately, the revenue is reduced by up to 50%, but they are still struggling to pay social insurance and salary to ensure life for people. labor.

Enterprises all want all levels and functional sectors to join hands to solve them soon in order to timely support businesses to overcome the difficult period. Enterprises have common recommendations: With the policy on social insurance, allowing enterprises to temporarily stop paying retirement and death funds according to the actual number of employees stopped working; suspend payment of social insurance, health insurance, accident insurance to the end of 2020 and not be charged interest on late payment; Exemption from union fee payment of 2% of salary fund in 2020 instead of the current regulation: 50% of employees who are subject to payment of social insurance of enterprises must quit their jobs or prove that 50% of the damage is extremely complicated because there is no specific criteria or measures, moreover, signs of damage are in the future (because inventories, contracts, sales, suspensions ... are all signs of future decline), so the proof Damage can last for years.

With regard to credit policies, businesses want commercial banks to strictly follow the direction of the State Bank, and synchronously deploy solutions to support businesses. Along with supporting credit access, it is necessary to accelerate debt restructuring, including principal and interest debt. It is necessary to be more proactive and flexible in implementing business support packages, in which specifying the needs of each customer group to have timely and effective support policies through product packages and reduction programs. interest rates ... help businesses overcome difficult times.

Regarding the payment fee exemption and reduction policy, some credit institutions have reduced payment fees for foreign payments, but domestic payments and remittances have not been reduced to enterprises. Therefore, enterprises want credit institutions to unify and implement the policies that the State Bank has issued, regardless of debt group and type of enterprise. In case the enterprise is completely isolated, it is suggested that the debts at the banks of the enterprise during the quarantine period will not be charged interest and not included in the loan term. In addition, the new support policy only applies to loans in VND, not yet for loans in USD, while for exporting enterprises, there is a lot of demand for loans in USD, but not yet. The support policy should businesses propose to the State Bank to issue support policies for the USD for export and import enterprises similar to the support policies in VND...

The government's policies to support businesses and people is the biggest support package to stimulate the economy. In order for business flow to be cleared up on the basis of ensuring socially isolated conditions, early finding out solutions to bridge the gap helps businesses to access and enjoy the Government's preeminent policies. quickly restore production, be ready to cope with a new “post-COVID” war - that is to repel recession, restart and restore the economy is one of the most urgent problems today./.