By Tố Như and Mai Phương

HÀ NỘI — The capital city has been mobilising all efforts to support businesses in minimising impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, overcoming difficulties, restoring and maintaining operations.

Accompanying and sharing difficulties with enterprises in the city, authorities in Hà Nội are implementing many drastic and synchronous measures to control the pandemic, ensuring “the health of enterprises is the health of the national economy”.

Secretary of Hà Nội Party Committee, Đinh Tiến Dũng, stressed the aim of putting businesses and people at the centre the city has been focusing on promoting administrative procedure reform, improving the business investment environment, solving difficulties and obstacles and removing bottlenecks and inadequacies in policies, mechanisms and administrative procedures to boost the fast and sustainable development of enterprises.

The city has determined “external force” from foreign investors as an important factor, while “internal force” from domestic enterprises is a decisive factor for the economy’s autonomy and sustainable development.

Hà Nội will also organise a dialogue conference with domestic enterprises to listen to and discuss their problems as well as receive recommendations, proposals, initiatives and experience so that the city can develop solutions to support, remove difficulties and promote business development, according to the official.

Vice President and General Secretary of the Hà Nội Small and Medium Enterprises Association (HANOISME), Mạc Quốc Anh, highlighted the timely and drastic support of the Government and city authority.

He said in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government and the city authority have been very active in promulgating comprehensive fiscal and monetary policies.

Long-term policies have been issued, including those on reducing loan interest rates and business costs, developing the domestic market, promoting the connection of domestic enterprises, forming Vietnamese linkage chains, promoting and supporting enterprises in digital transformation.

“The promulgation of support policies for employees is really a timely and practical encouragement for them so it is highly appreciated,” Anh said.

However, he also pointed out some “gaps” in the implementation of such policies: “Although such support is considered to be useful, there is a long distance from the policies to their actual implementation, which requires solutions to make them come to life faster.”

“In some policies to support employees, most businesses do not benefit because the accompanying conditions are difficult for them to implement such as those related to the number of employees quitting jobs and the enterprise revenue. Policy on 0 per-cent interest rate in payment of wages for employees is considered the most difficult to access," said Anh.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Hà Nội Association of Key Industrial Enterprises, Lê Vĩnh Sơn suggested the city should immediately have solutions to concretise Government’s Resolution No 128/NQ - CP creating conditions and opportunities for enterprises to recover and develop the whole economy. At the same time, it should speed up the disbursement of support packages for businesses.

For enterprises, Sơn said they should actively set up their own plans of operation to promptly deal with the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, improve the quality of management, operations and the ability to cope with business “shock” in both internal and external situations.

Vice Chairman of Hà Nội People's Committee Nguyễn Mạnh Quyền said the city has actively reviewed and urged the implementation of 22 projects that still faced obstacles. The city has so far completed the grant/adjustment procedures for nine projects and is expected to complete licensing procedures for the remaining 13 in the first half of November.

The city is also focusing on directing and speeding up the construction progress in at least 20 industrial clusters in 2021 and 18 industrial clusters in early 2022, It continues to apply and expand online public services in the direction of maximum support for enterprises, cooperatives and business households.

The city has issued Plan No. 246 on November 1, 2021, on safe, flexible economic recovery and adaptive development, and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2021, 2022 and 2023.

To fulfill the plan, Hà Nội will continue to focus on various targets including controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the healthcare system, maintaining sustainable economic development, and ensuring budget balance.

It will also boost administrative reforms, improve investment and business environments, and establish special working teams to help remove obstacles for enterprises and increase the city's public investment.

Anh said Hà Nội has assigned tasks for departments and agencies as well as local authorities to focus on implementing the plans.

Accordingly, they should continue to actively survey, capture, record and synthesise problems and proposals of enterprises, focus on solutions and proposals to competent agencies to immediately deal with such problems. 

The city and local authorities will also continue to focus on implementing the Government's regulations and policies on pandemic prevention and support businesses and people during the pandemic.

At the same time, promote the effective implementation of the city's work plans and programmes in 2021 and the period up to 2025, especially those related to the activities of enterprises.

Anh requested business enterprises coordinate with the city to maximise creativity in coping with difficulties to proactively implement production recovery strategies and plans associated with pandemic prevention and control ensuring business sustainability.

He appealed for the business community to co-operate with the city in the implementation of guidelines and policies to support workers to stabilise their living conditions and maintain work for their employers.

According to a report from the city's People's Committee, in the first 10 months of 2021, some 19,848 business enterprises were established, down 10 per cent, with a registered capital of VND275,152 billion, down 2 per cent. This figure has pushed the total number of businesses in the city to more than 320,000.

There were 2,566 enterprises carrying out procedures for dissolution, up 26 per cent, 11,034 enterprises registered to suspend operations, up 17 per cent and 9,144 enterprises resumed operation, up 76 per cent.

The GRDP in the first nine months increased by 1.28 per cent - the lowest level ever. The target of 7.5 per cent growth in 2021 is forecasted to be difficult to complete. — VNS