Processing seafood for export at a company in HCMC. (Photo: SGGP)
Step-by-step production recovery
Ms. Le Bich Loan, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), said that almost all SHTP-based enterprises had resumed manufacturing. Of which, 50 percent of enterprises produced at half capacity, and the rest recovered production at 75 percent. According to the roadmap that enterprises reported to the Management Board, it is expected that they will fully restore operations by the end of November.
Enterprises said that it is crucial to recover production altogether in November. On the one hand, enterprises want to show their partners their stable operations. More importantly, they must deal with the number of orders stagnant for many months. At the same time, they are confident enough to receive new orders to accelerate exports at the end of the year and the first quarter of 2022. Earlier, at the peak of the pandemic in July and August, many enterprises lost about 20 percent of export orders in the global supply chain.
Currently, major corporations at SHTP, such as Samsung, Intel, and Nidec Sankyo, have closely connected with the management board and related units to urgently complete the pandemic prevention plan in the factory to quickly recover production. These units are expected to increase production capacity to 100 percent by the end of November.
Regarding human resources, a representative of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) said that in the context of complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had applied many policies to pay salaries and welfares, strengthen the working and living conditions for units under the three-on-site production model, and actively support laborers in Covid-19 testing and vaccination. Thanks to that, the workforce at factories is always maintained stability. This is also a general picture of many businesses that have taken good care of their workers in many industrial parks and export processing zones of HCMC.
Market reopening
From another perspective, many businesses shared that along with the resumption of production, market opportunities have also reopened for many of them. According to Mr. Le Thanh Liem, CFO of Vinamilk, over the past time, the company has quickly introduced its products to markets that suffer supply chain disruptions. Therefore, export sales and new orders of Vinamilk continuously increased even in the areas affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms. Le Bich Loan, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), said that almost all SHTP-based enterprises had resumed manufacturing. Of which, 50 percent of enterprises produced at half capacity, and the rest recovered production at 75 percent. According to the roadmap that enterprises reported to the Management Board, it is expected that they will fully restore operations by the end of November.
Enterprises said that it is crucial to recover production altogether in November. On the one hand, enterprises want to show their partners their stable operations. More importantly, they must deal with the number of orders stagnant for many months. At the same time, they are confident enough to receive new orders to accelerate exports at the end of the year and the first quarter of 2022. Earlier, at the peak of the pandemic in July and August, many enterprises lost about 20 percent of export orders in the global supply chain.
Currently, major corporations at SHTP, such as Samsung, Intel, and Nidec Sankyo, have closely connected with the management board and related units to urgently complete the pandemic prevention plan in the factory to quickly recover production. These units are expected to increase production capacity to 100 percent by the end of November.
Regarding human resources, a representative of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) said that in the context of complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had applied many policies to pay salaries and welfares, strengthen the working and living conditions for units under the three-on-site production model, and actively support laborers in Covid-19 testing and vaccination. Thanks to that, the workforce at factories is always maintained stability. This is also a general picture of many businesses that have taken good care of their workers in many industrial parks and export processing zones of HCMC.
Market reopening
From another perspective, many businesses shared that along with the resumption of production, market opportunities have also reopened for many of them. According to Mr. Le Thanh Liem, CFO of Vinamilk, over the past time, the company has quickly introduced its products to markets that suffer supply chain disruptions. Therefore, export sales and new orders of Vinamilk continuously increased even in the areas affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vinamilk accelerates production to fulfill many export orders. (Photo: SGGP)
In the first six months of 2021, export activities of Vinamilk recorded double-digit revenue growth, exceeding VND2.77 trillion, up 13.1 percent over the same period. Particularly, in early August, during the peak of social distancing, Vinamilk exported a large shipment to Del Monte Vinamilk Dairy Philippines Inc., its joint venture company in the Philippines. The company is now increasing production to fulfill many orders from Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, countries in the Middle East, Africa, and China. According to analysts, the pandemic developed complicatedly, but the export turnover of many commodity groups of Vietnam still posted an increase. For example, the group of fuels and minerals was estimated at $2.66 billion, up 9 percent over the same period. The group of industrial process products was estimated at $214 billion, up 19.5 percent. Agricultural and forestry products reached $17.7 billion, up 17.6 percent, and the aquatic product group hit $6.17 billion, up 2.4 percent. The US was still Vietnam's largest export market, with a turnover of $69.8 billion, up 27.6 percent year on year. It was followed by China, the EU, the ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea, with a sharp increase from 5.1 percent to 18.3 percent. Therefore, according to Ms. Le Bich Loan, with favorable trade in goods, the congestion of goods at seaports quickly removed, and many advantages from FTAs, the export growth momentum is expected to boom in the fourth quarter of 2021. Trade commissioners in Europe, the UK, the US, and India said that these markets needed to import many product groups from Vietnam. For instance, the Chilean market needs to import canned products, dried fruits, instant noodles, clothing, sports shoes, galvanized steel, and construction screws. India needs to import spices and flavoring products. The UK market needs to import agricultural and aquatic products of all kinds grown under the GlobalGAP standards.
