Local businesses increase production capacity for Tet

Enterprises are also trying to ensure that their production and business activities meet relevant regulations regarding COVID-19 prevention and control measures in accordance with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s direction.

A wide variety of food and beverage products at stable prices will be distributed to supermarkets, shops, traditional markets, and e-commerce channels, with an abundant supply of goods.

According to the Department of Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, at present most firms operating in the processing and manufacturing industries have temporarily halted production ahead of Tet, with the exception of a few enterprises involved in the paper and cement industry. Indeed, a handful of companies will maintain a certain output throughout the holiday period due to the specific characteristics of production lines that require regular operation.

Furthermore, some businesses in other industries such as electronics and car production will still maintain operations as a part of their production lines, although they will not complete any new products.

As a labour intensive industry, garment and footwear enterprises must employ many workers from different localities throughout the country, meaning that they have to give their employees time off for the Tet holidays, according to the Government's announced schedule. Despite being impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the industry still recorded positive growth compared to the same period from last year.

Most notably, the textile production index and garment production index recorded respective increases of 16.6% and 9.9% compared to the same period from last year. Indeed, textile and garment export turnover in January was estimated to be US$2.6 billion, an annual rise of 3.3%, while footwear export turnover of all kinds in January hit an estimated US$1.8 billion, up 26.4% over the same period from last year.

Electronic businesses are therefore catching up with the trend of shifting production from multinational electronic corporations, thereby opening up plenty of opportunities to participate in the global supply chain.

By January, the domestic electronics industry had grown by 38% compared to the same period from last year. As such, local electronic businesses will take Tet holidays according to the schedule announced by the Government and will not have to maintain continuous production over Tet.

With regard to fertilizers, due to the preparation for cultivation in the Winter-Spring crop over the first days of the Lunar New Year, the price of various fertilizers tends to increase. Providing that the total amount of fertilizer meets demand and there is no shortage of goods, there will also be no price hike.

Moreover, the power supply to the national power system has come up with a plan to ensure that there are no problems in the power source and grid, especially before, during, and after Tet.