Vietnam provides aid to pandemic-affected workers

This was disclosed by minister of labour, invalids and social affairs Dao Ngoc Dung at the 15th National Assembly. 

The minister said the huge surge in infections since April 27 has put enormous pressure on the economy and society, and the government has reacted with various policies to aid affected employees and employers, for example, water and power bill discounts, Value Added Tax (VAT) deferrals, fee waivers, and emergency reliefs for workers and enterprises in need. 

About VND168.8 trillion (US$7.3 billion) has been provided to help the affected, with close to VND39 trillion (US$1.7 billion) of the VND62-trillion (US$2.7-billion) support package used to help a total of 14.4 million people. 

In addition, financial support has also been promptly given to workers without contracts, especially those residing in cities and provinces practicing social-distancing measures. 

The minister said that the employment rate reached 2.52%, with the services sector being the hardest hit. Other tourism-related industries such as travel, lodging service and transportation are shrinking further this year. About 70,000 enterprises in the economy have suspended operation or gone bankrupt. 

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The pandemic has also severely affected industrial parks and export processing zones where a large number of workers are employed, the minister said. He said that HCM City, Hanoi and many other localities which have imposed full or partial lockdown and social-distancing measures have seen most services, business and production activities shut down, severely impacting the livelihoods of millions of people, according to VNA.