Businesses struggle to recover after storms and floods, many units still have to stop operations

Cleaning up a factory in Thai Nguyen City after the storm and flood - Photo: HA QUAN

In Yen Bai, Mr. Pham Dac Yen - director of Vietnam Gemstone Painting Company Limited - said the damage caused by flooding was huge.

Efforts to restore production and business

According to Mr. Yen, the business has started cleaning up but estimates it will take about a month or more to return to normal operations. Although many orders are delayed, fortunately most customers are sympathetic to the natural disaster.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha - Director of Global Dream Company Limited in Yen Bai - shared that the company has resumed operations in the past few days. However, they are facing a disruption in the supply of goods because many factories have not resumed operations. The company is trying to process urgent orders and work online to overcome the situation.

In Thai Nguyen, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - owner of a forest products processing factory in Dai Tu district - has mobilized workers to return to work to deliver orders to customers on time. Although he has to pay for cleaning and repair costs, Mr. Tuan still feels luckier than those units that lost everything after the storm and flood.

In Quang Ninh, many tourism businesses and restaurants suffered heavy infrastructure damage. A representative of Sunworld Ha Long said that about 90% of the trees in the park were knocked down, broken or uprooted. The company is working to assess the damage and come up with a solution.

In Hanoi, many agricultural cooperatives reported major losses after the storm. For example, a clean vegetable cooperative in Chuong My had nearly 10 hectares of vegetables flooded and destroyed, with total losses of about VND230 million. They are currently destroying the vegetables that cannot be recovered and replanting.

Difficulties still abound

Although some businesses have resumed operations, many others are still facing major difficulties. In Thai Nguyen, Tai Duc Phu HDH Joint Stock Company - an agricultural enterprise - has not been able to restart operations because the surrounding area is still flooded, the water has not receded and employees have not been able to return to work.

Mr. Nguyen Dung - leader of Ky My International Transport and Tourism Company Limited in Quang Ninh - said that the company's infrastructure was severely damaged after the storm. Due to the lack of electricity, they have not been able to carry out repairs and it is expected that it will take about 10 more days to resume operations.

According to statistics from Quang Ninh province, more than 11,000 customers with a total outstanding debt of VND10,654 billion were severely affected by the consequences of storm Yagi, including many people involved in aquaculture.

Tax expert Nguyen Ngoc Tu noted that people and businesses need to take some important steps such as declaring the extent of damage and getting confirmation from the government agency to enjoy support policies. He also proposed expanding the support subjects, including units that are indirectly affected such as unable to transport goods or affected in the supply chain.

In the long term, Mr. Tu proposed more comprehensive support solutions such as reducing value added tax, supporting consumption promotion, reducing personal income tax for employees, and increasing family deductions. In addition, there should be synchronous solutions from other sectors such as banking, reducing land rental costs, BOT fees, logistics, postal services, and telecommunications to support businesses to recover after natural disasters.

Food production enterprises increase supply

Many food production enterprises in the South are increasing production and applying promotional programs to meet the increasing demand in the Northern market.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy general director of Colusa-Miliket Foodstuff Joint Stock Company, said the company has increased production capacity of key products such as noodles, pho, and hu tieu.

The factory in the South can reach a capacity of 60-70 tons/day, while the factory in the North can reach 20-30 tons/day. Mr. Tuan explained that due to production difficulties in the North and market demand increasing by 20-30%, the company has increased the transportation of goods from the South to the North.

Ms. Le Thi Giau, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Binh Tay Food Joint Stock Company, also said that the company is planning to increase working hours to meet demand. Currently, the average production capacity is 15-20 tons/day but can increase to 40-50 tons, even 60 tons/day if necessary. Ms. Giau affirmed that the company has enough machinery, raw materials and workers to meet market demand.

Mr. Truong Tien Dung, permanent vice president of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association (FFA), said that nearly 1,000 members of FFA, including many large-scale production units, are committed to not having shortages of goods and keeping prices stable.

Many businesses are ready to increase production by 20-40% if needed. Mr. Dung explained that businesses have large inventories and enough raw materials to last for 3-4 months, so increasing production is feasible.

FFA is encouraging businesses to proactively ship goods to the North early or prioritize picking up goods in the North for timely supply. Many businesses not only increase production but also support goods, cash and apply a 15-30% discount program for food products in the North.

Immediately install a hundred million banana drying line for flood areas

Buying bananas for farmers on the day of the storm and flood to reduce damage to farmers - Photo: N.KH.

Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Hang, Director of Rosa Valley Vietnam Co., Ltd., decided to invest hundreds of millions of VND to install a banana processing machinery line. In just three days, the company completed the installation and began producing the first batch of green banana powder.

Ms. Hang shared that although her own garden was also heavily affected, she still decided to support farmers by buying the first 20 tons of bananas.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dao Ngoc Nam - General Director of UBOFOOD Vietnam Company - has sent dozens of workers to support its manufacturing partners to overcome the consequences of the storm. The company also mobilized many specialized trucks to purchase and transport goods, especially vegetables and fruits, to ensure the supply for kitchens, restaurants and schools in Hanoi.

To cope with the shortage and disruption of local supply, UBOFOOD has expanded its supply from many places. Mr. Nam suggested that there should be more policies to support producers, increase investment in primary and processed products, processing plants and cold storage systems to better preserve agricultural products.

After Typhoon Yagi, many seafood export businesses stopped operating.

Mr. Ngo Viet Phuong, director of Viet Truong Company Limited (Hai Phong), said that the roof of the factory, packaging warehouse and pellet feed factory had been blown off and collapsed. Imported raw materials had to be temporarily stored at the port, increasing storage and electricity costs. It is expected to take about 20 days to repair and resume operations.

In Quang Ninh, Mr. Do Quang Sang - Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Quang Ninh Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company - said that the company had to temporarily stop production for five days to clean up the entire factory. Although the loss of business opportunities is inevitable, the company is trying to overcome it to soon return to production and export activities.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, many businesses in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh suffered heavy losses after storm Yagi when factories and workshops had their roofs blown off and frozen goods were affected by power outages.

Vegetable production has decreased significantly, we must find more solutions.

According to a representative of LOTTE Mart supermarket, the supply of vegetables (especially leafy vegetables) in the Northern localities has decreased significantly due to the impact of severe storms and floods.

To proactively provide enough vegetables for customers, LOTTE Mart has implemented two parallel plans: tripling the output of vegetables from Da Lat, increasing the frequency of shipments from Da Lat to 1 trip/day (previously 1 trip/2 days).

Supplementing the vegetable supply in Nghe An, specifically LOTTE Mart buys directly in Nghe An and transports directly with a capacity of 1.5 - 2 tons (focusing on the group of vegetables that are in shortage such as: mustard greens, water spinach, amaranth, chayote, squash, pumpkin of all kinds) with a frequency of 2 days/trip and depending on the situation, the demand can increase the number of trips when necessary.

Similarly, many other businesses such as Saigon Co.op, MM Mega Market... affirmed that with the widespread flooding, it is certain that the local supply of vegetables in many northern provinces and the suburbs of Hanoi, especially leafy vegetables, is almost very limited. Therefore, the solution to increase the delivery of vegetables from the Central and Southern regions continues to be focused on with the amount transported gradually increasing.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doanh-nghiep-gong-minh-hoi-phuc-sau-bao-lu-nhieu-don-vi-van-phai-dung-hoat-dong-20240914085927876.htm