Recently, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City issued Plan 1455/KH-UBND regarding the support for businesses during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic from now until December 31, 2020.
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In order to promptly support city enterprises to quickly overcome difficulties and stabilize business production soon, thereby contributing to maintaining the city's economic stability and ensuring social security in the area, the City People's Committee issued a Plan to support businesses during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic from now until December 31, 2020, focusing on implementing the following 04 major task groups and solutions:
1. Focus on supporting businesses to maintain business production under safe conditions
Relevant city departments and agencies, People's Committees of 24 districts and counties to advise on the content:
- Review and survey the support needs of business households and enterprises in the area to maintain production and business activities according to the city's safety criteria;
- Establish criteria sets for prioritizing support to overcome difficulties for production and business (ensuring the requirements: accuracy, ease of classification, application) and organize guidance for each sector managed by the respective Departments;
- Continue to accelerate the reduction of administrative procedures to support the circulation of goods in the area; including customs procedures to maintain export-import activities through the city's border gates.
2. Support to reduce production and business costs for enterprises (currently producing; temporarily suspended production) and living expenses for the public
-Electricity costs: Assign Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation to propose the implementation of policies to reduce electricity prices for residents and businesses in the area based on the approval policy of the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam.
-Water costs: Assign Saigon Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco) to continue implementing policies to reduce water prices for low-income workers; simultaneously propose and advise on guiding criteria to support water price reductions for production units, business-service units in the area.
-Tax policy: Assign the City Tax Department to establish guiding criteria for cases of tax exemption, reduction, and deferral due to the impact of SARS-CoV-2; immediately implement tax and land rent extensions (according to the online deferral procedures) applicable under Decree 41/2020/ND-CP dated April 08, 2020, of the Government of Vietnam; coordinate with People's Committees of 24 districts to review the list of individual business households with declared tax revenue below 100 million VND/year temporarily suspending business to implement support according to the policies of the Government of Vietnam.
-Land rent policy: Assign the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to establish guiding criteria prioritizing exemption, reduction, and deferral of land rent payment due to the impact of SARS-CoV-2.
-Social insurance: Assign the city Social Insurance agency to guide agencies, units, organizations, and enterprises to temporarily suspend contributions to the retirement and survivorship funds for subjects affected by SARS-CoV-2.
-Administrative procedure reform: Assign the Department of Information and Communications to coordinate with 24 districts, sectors to accelerate online public services for administrative procedures, supporting enterprises to maintain production, business activities, and export-import.
-Worker livelihood care: Assign the Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs to lead the coordination with the Management Board of Export Processing and Industrial Zones of the city (Hepza), the Management Board of the High-Tech Zone of the city, and People's Committees of 24 districts to survey, evaluate, establish guiding criteria to support workers losing their jobs in the area due to the pandemic; coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the People's Committees of 24 districts to implement support policies for workers during the pandemic situation according to the policies of the Government of Vietnam and the City People's Committee.
3. Support technological innovation for business production
- Assign the Department of Planning and Investment to advise the City People's Committee to amend Decision 50/2015/QD-UBND dated October 30, 2015, of the City People's Committee issuing regulations on the implementation of the City's Investment Stimulus Program to support capital for enterprises investing in innovating equipment and technology; accelerate the implementation and disbursement progress of public investment capital plans for 2020.
- Assign the Department of Industry and Trade to report to the City People's Committee on additional lists of key industrial product groups and potential industrial product groups to be supported with loan interest within the Investment Stimulation Program in the supporting industry sector of Ho Chi Minh City under Resolution 16/2018/NQ-HDND dated October 08, 2018, of the City People's Council.
4. Support businesses to recover business production after SARS-CoV-2
- Assign the State Bank of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City Branch:
+ Work with commercial banks and credit institutions in the area to balance and fully and promptly meet the capital needs for business production, accelerate administrative procedure reform, shorten loan application review times, enhance customer access to loans; promptly apply support measures such as rescheduling debt repayment, considering loan interest exemption or reduction, keeping the debt group unchanged, reducing fees, etc. for customers facing difficulties due to the impact of SARS-CoV-2;
+ Coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade to develop a Plan to organize the 2020 Bank-Business Connection Program with the theme “Supporting enterprises with capital to recover business production after SARS-CoV-2”;
+ Establish guiding criteria to prioritize access to the 285 trillion VND credit package in case the Government of Vietnam allows the city to participate in the implementation;
- Assign the Department of Industry and Trade to advise the City People's Committee on solutions to support export enterprises, propose specific groups of goods and markets that need trade promotion activities to boost exports in 2020;
- Assign the Department of Tourism to advise on establishing criteria and tourism stimulus programs, develop new tourism products, and enhance existing tourism products after SARS-CoV-2;
- Assign the Department of Transport to research policies to resolve the difficulties of transport enterprises, reducing costs for enterprises;
- Assign People's Committees of 24 districts to review and proactively support business households and enterprises in the area with risk reduction measures to resume business production according to the set of criteria assessing the risk of coronavirus infection in enterprises in the area; survey and resolve policies for workers facing difficulties due to being out of work from support sources of the Central Government, the City, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
Implementation time: from now until the end of 2020.
See detailed content in Plan 1455/KH-UBND issued on April 21, 2020.
Nguyen Trinh
