Vietnam is now on the 21st day of social distancing. The government has now opened the economy by opening businesses but only with 50% capacity. Gatherings are still prohibited. The government provides food support to vulnerable groups and financial support to businesses.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
VNFU has donated money to the national budget and members donated blood to patients in need. They have also distributed food packages (consisting of sugar, rice milk, noodles) and medical supplies (face masks, hand sanitizers) to farmers. They are also cooperating with enterprises wherein the farmers are connected to supermarkets. The challenge our members are facing right now are:
- Not all of the farmers received support from the government because the financial aid is only for the poor sector and there are farmers that are not classified as such. The farmers have to show evidence that their income is affected in order to receive financial support. Another downside of this is that the location of the farmers affects whether they would be able to access it or not.
- Transportation of agriculture products is difficult due to social distancing because the markets are in urban areas while the goods are coming from rural areas.
- There is a decline in the demand for agricultural products locally and agricultural goods for export. China is one of the biggest importers of these agro products and the demands decreased due to the pandemic and closure of borders. There are also delays since the staffing on the import/export sector is reduced. Imports in Europe are reduced by 50% leading to a reduction in price to 40%. Production materials such as seedlings that are imported from China are also stilted due to the ongoing constrictions.
What are your government’s actions that are good that should be replicated in other countries?
Vietnam has no mortality recorded because of good governance. All sectors were involved in preventing the spread of the virus and now the government has a good commitment to the actions. Measures of preventing the virus were done rather than fighting it. People that tested positive with COVID-19 were identified and placed in lockdown/quarantine earlier to stop the spread. There is also an implementation of a compulsory quarantine of people from other countries. There is no complete lockdown, only social distancing which is implemented clearly. People wear masks in public and production areas are encouraged to continue production.
There are also lots of donations made to provide food support. The donations are directed to rural areas where there are more people who are in need of support.
In terms of the economy, the government encourages enterprises to still continue production and exporting despite the problems. Even if the price is reduced, the government still encourages the resumptions of production. Vietnam is exporting again, including rice, but only limited.
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