Production recovery must come with safety: Deputy PM

The recovery of manufacturing activity must come alongside safety against the epidemic, according to Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, who was speaking at a conference on September 20.

Deputy PM Le Van Thanh speaking at the conference (Photo: Thanh Giang)
Deputy PM Le Van Thanh speaking at the conference (Photo: Thanh Giang)

He stated that although many resolutions have been introduced and actions taken, enterprises based in industrial parks in provinces where social distancing measures are being imposed are still struggling.

Therefore measures are needed to promote recovery while ensuring the virus is kept under control.

At the conference, domestic and foreign enterprises highlighted their difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic such as stagnated production, loss of orders, rising costs due to social distancing, workers’ restricted movement and low vaccination rates.

Therefore they propose the Government and ministries support them to maintain supply chains, accelerate vaccination, make it easier for experts to enter Vietnam and facilitate the movement of workers as well as the circulation of goods.

The sportswear manufacturer Nike, for instance, recommended it is not necessary to shut down a factory when there are new infections.

Replying to the enterprises’ proposals, Deputy PM Thanh emphasised that when cases are detected at a factory, taking infected people to treatment and screening their close contacts is all that is needed while other factories without infections can operate normally.

He noted that localities and enterprises need to have measures to keep the situation in check and no large outbreaks at production facilities can be allowed to occur.

At the conference, representatives of provinces and cities also presented lessons on fighting the virus, especially supporting enterprises to restore production, and avoiding disruptions to production chains as well as how to prevent fresh outbreaks.