Establishing a hotline between the Working Group of Industry and Trade - Transport

Working with the Ministry of Transport on the morning of July 22, the two sides agreed to establish a hotline of the Special Task Force of the two ministries to coordinate and handle obstacles in the circulation and distribution of goods.

Understanding the difficulties that businesses and distributors are facing, at the working session on the morning of July 22, both sides agreed that removing obstacles in the circulation of goods is a task that needs to be done immediately. Because the epidemic is still complicated, there are still many difficulties, but the tasks assigned by the Government must be resolutely implemented: Do not let there be a shortage of goods, do not let people lack food, essential goods in any situation.

Based on the proposal of the Special Working Group of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transport agreed: Allow businesses to buy Covid-19 rapid test kits themselves (permitted by the Ministry of Health); Mobilize transport businesses to support localities in transporting and consuming agricultural products with large output during the harvest season, and participate in mobile essential sales models during the epidemic.

The Working Group also recommended that the Ministry of Transport direct the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Association to support transportation for businesses facing difficulties.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport. Ho Chi Minh City has provided contact points and identification card samples to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Special Task Force to send to the Departments of Industry and Trade of provinces and cities to guide businesses to comply with regulations and contact them when encountering difficulties in the process of transporting goods from the provinces to Ho Chi Minh City.

On the afternoon of July 22, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai attended the working session of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam - Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control with members of the Government's Special Task Force.

Speaking at the working session, the Deputy Minister said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible for ensuring the supply of essential goods for Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces. However, the closure of wholesale markets and traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City has increased pressure on supermarket systems, shopping malls and people have difficulty accessing goods. In fact, Ho Chi Minh City is currently lacking places to gather goods to replace wholesale markets. Therefore, other provinces and cities need to consider closing wholesale markets and traditional markets to avoid making it difficult for people to access goods.

The Deputy Minister also suggested that the Government, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, and the Ministry of Health need to clarify and provide specific guidance on the regulations when applying the tightening of Directive 16/CT-TTg so that relevant localities and ministries can proactively develop appropriate and effective response scenarios.

Additional difficulties arise

Also on the afternoon of July 22, the Working Group worked with distribution systems in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Co.op, MM Mega Market, Vinmart, Aeon, Lotte Mart) to grasp the supply and demand situation, prices of goods, and difficulties and problems of the distribution system.

Through a survey of the actual market and listening to opinions from business representatives, the Working Group has noted that distribution systems are facing four major difficulties:

One is that costs have increased because businesses have to bear additional costs during the epidemic (testing costs, quarantine costs for employees, cleaning and disinfection costs, etc.), while suppliers have increased their selling prices (for example, the Lotte system has about 3,000 employees, and must be tested once every 3 days, with a testing cost of 900,000,000 VND);

Two is that the systems are facing difficulties in storing goods in case a worker at the warehouse contracts Covid-19, the warehouse must close, so there needs to be a plan for an alternative warehouse;

Three is that some suppliers of vegetables, fruits, and eggs have not yet met the ordering needs of supermarkets.

Fourth, there is a lack of workers working in the system (drivers, warehouse staff, packaging, processing, sales, etc.) due to workers infected with Covid-19.

The Working Group acknowledged these difficulties and said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will recommend that the Government and the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control provide specific guidance when tightening Directive 16/CT-TTg, specifically how, so that localities and relevant ministries and branches can proactively develop appropriate and effective response scenarios; Support distribution businesses to overcome difficulties in human resources (lack of sales staff, logistics staff, drivers), and testing costs for employees. At the same time, localities will have unified instructions on the implementation of regulations of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Health to facilitate the most convenient circulation of essential goods.