16,000 businesses still need support to overcome COVID-19 impact

The beer and alcohol sector is hit hard by COVID-19

Pham Dinh Thi, director of the Tax Policy Department under the Ministry of Finance, said about 98 percent of businesses would benefit from the package with total tax and land rent being extended to 180 trillion VND (7.67 billion USD).

However, economic experts said that there are 2 percent of 800,000 enterprises nationwide, equivalent to 16,000 enterprises that have not been considered for tax extension support.

Notably, more than 1,000 businesses in the beverage sector have been affected by COVID-19. Most of their goods are not consumed, while more than 200,000 workers of the Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association (VBA) have had their work interrupted.

Nguyen Van Viet, VBA chairman, said that not only workers but the State's revenue has also been affected by the impact of COVID-19.

Every year, this association contributes more than 60 trillion VND to the State budget.

Therefore, the chairman proposed the Government and the Ministry of Finance to consider and allow beverage industries to be eligible for tax and land rent extension.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong, lecturer at the National Economics University, said that in order to cover all businesses hit by COVID-19, the Ministry of Finance should stipulate businesses which are damaged by the pandemic will be supported from the package, and not distinguish specific industries.

The National Economics University recently made a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Vietnamese economy.

Results from the survey showed that to deal with difficulties caused by the pandemic, 65.5 percent of businesses cut down their regular operating costs; 35.3 percent of enterprises had to reduce their workforce; 34 percent had to cut workers' wages and 34.5 percent had to give workers leave without pay.

Nearly 45 percent of businesses cut production and business scale; 34.7 percent of businesses chose to suspend production and business activities to wait through difficult times and 15.1 percent of enterprises changed their business and production form to suit the new context.

The report also showed that although the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to have an impact in the medium and long term, the economy would need at least one quarter to recover after the pandemic is under control.