Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Thi Thang. (Photo: SGGP)
According to Ms. Phan Thi Thang, the 2022 Lunar New Year will be a special Tet holiday because, at the toughest period of the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the wishes of the HCMC Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control was to strive to bring a peaceful Tet holiday to citizens. Now that that wish has gradually come true, people have been rushing to prepare to welcome the 2022 Lunar New Year.
Factories have been working overtime to increase the production of goods to serve people, and the distribution system has actively joined the race. The Department of Industry and Trade of HCMC has connected with provinces and cities to organize many programs to connect supply and demand of goods and diversify products. This year, besides products to serve the Lunar New Year like every year, there are also more specialty products from various regions across the country. It is expected that enterprises have allocated VND20 trillion to reserve goods, of which VND7 trillion is for market stabilization and promotion programs. HCMC assessed that the source of goods is abundant with reasonable prices, but the purchasing power may be lower than the same period last year because of difficulties caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of the difficulties caused by the impact of the pandemic is that the market is shrunk, and travel psychology is negatively affected. Therefore, after the pandemic was controlled, the city determined that activities to restore economic development are one of the three important pillars in the new normal period. This activity ensures sustainable welfare and stimulates consumer demand. The city organized the Focused Promotion Month from November 15 to December 31, 2021, attracting more than 1,800 businesses with more than 7,000 promotional programs. After that, wholesale and retail sales increased from VND43 trillion in October 2021 to VND66 trillion in December 2021. In addition, HCMC has actively implemented activities to connect and search for safe tourism products with neighboring provinces and promote international arrivals during the 2022 Lunar New Year, contributing to reviving the tourism industry.
It is expected that this New Year, workers and laborers will stay in the city to celebrate the Tet holiday because of difficulties caused by the impact of the pandemic. The city has directed the industry and trade industry to develop demand stimulus plans and promotional programs for consumers with the participation of 80 market-stabilized enterprises to organize mobile sales programs in export processing zones and industrial parks. From November 15, 2021, to now, four mobile sales programs have been organized at Linh Trung 1 and Linh Trung 2 export processing zones in Thu Duc City, Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7, and Tan Tao Industrial Park in Binh Tan District, distributing essential food, and foodstuff products at prices lower than or equal to market-stabilized prices, with clear origins and food safety to facilitate workers and laborers to buy goods.
Factories have been working overtime to increase the production of goods to serve people, and the distribution system has actively joined the race. The Department of Industry and Trade of HCMC has connected with provinces and cities to organize many programs to connect supply and demand of goods and diversify products. This year, besides products to serve the Lunar New Year like every year, there are also more specialty products from various regions across the country. It is expected that enterprises have allocated VND20 trillion to reserve goods, of which VND7 trillion is for market stabilization and promotion programs. HCMC assessed that the source of goods is abundant with reasonable prices, but the purchasing power may be lower than the same period last year because of difficulties caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of the difficulties caused by the impact of the pandemic is that the market is shrunk, and travel psychology is negatively affected. Therefore, after the pandemic was controlled, the city determined that activities to restore economic development are one of the three important pillars in the new normal period. This activity ensures sustainable welfare and stimulates consumer demand. The city organized the Focused Promotion Month from November 15 to December 31, 2021, attracting more than 1,800 businesses with more than 7,000 promotional programs. After that, wholesale and retail sales increased from VND43 trillion in October 2021 to VND66 trillion in December 2021. In addition, HCMC has actively implemented activities to connect and search for safe tourism products with neighboring provinces and promote international arrivals during the 2022 Lunar New Year, contributing to reviving the tourism industry.
It is expected that this New Year, workers and laborers will stay in the city to celebrate the Tet holiday because of difficulties caused by the impact of the pandemic. The city has directed the industry and trade industry to develop demand stimulus plans and promotional programs for consumers with the participation of 80 market-stabilized enterprises to organize mobile sales programs in export processing zones and industrial parks. From November 15, 2021, to now, four mobile sales programs have been organized at Linh Trung 1 and Linh Trung 2 export processing zones in Thu Duc City, Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7, and Tan Tao Industrial Park in Binh Tan District, distributing essential food, and foodstuff products at prices lower than or equal to market-stabilized prices, with clear origins and food safety to facilitate workers and laborers to buy goods.
People go shopping for Tet goods at a supermarket in HCMC. (Photo: SGGP)
The city also directed to strengthen the organization of zero-dong supermarkets (shopping free of charge) in densely populated areas to support underprivileged workers. Up to now, 11 zero-dong supermarkets have been established in Thu Duc City and Phu Nhuan, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Hoc Mon, and Cu Chi districts. Shortly, 21 more will be organized in the remaining districts. HCMC-based supermarket systems will extend opening hours to serve workers and laborers who get off work late. In general, the supply of goods is relatively abundant this year, and essential goods serving laborers are sold at reasonable prices. Ms. Phan Thi Thang also said that to guarantee the interests of consumers and deal with the problem of counterfeit goods, HCMC had asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct the HCMC Market Surveillance Department to strengthen coordination with the city's interdisciplinary forces to inspect and deal with the trading of counterfeit goods and goods with unclear origin to stabilize the market; propagandize for people to purchase goods through official channels to ensure the quality and price of goods; especially, focus on monitoring sales through cyberspace to protect consumers' interests and prevent tax loss. The city also calls on consumers to be more proactive in detecting counterfeit products, contributing to making a healthy market, promoting e-commerce in a civilized direction. HCMC has strived to coordinate with agencies and ministries to prepare an abundant and diverse supply of Tet goods, creating conditions for people to welcome a peaceful, joyful, happy, and safe Tet holiday amid special conditions of the 2022 Lunar New Year.
