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Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vũ Tiến Lộc. — Photo qdnd.vn

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vũ Tiến Lộc talks to Quân đội Nhân dân (People’s Army) newspaper about solutions to help businesses overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the World Bank have recently announced a report on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnamese businesses. What are key points of this report?

This report was built based on a survey of more than 10,000 businesses in 63 cities and provinces in 2020, providing specific perspectives on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey showed that the year 2020 was a year full of difficulties when nearly 90 per cent of surveyed firms were adversely affected by the pandemic with many consequences such as influencing firms’ access to customers, imbalance of cash flow and interruption of supply chains. Many businesses had to reduce their workforce, stop operations or go bankrupt.

Small- and super small-size businesses and young businesses of less than three years old suffered the most. The pandemic seriously affected turnover of businesses in 2020. 65 per cent of private enterprises and 62 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) businesses said their revenue dropped in comparison with 2019. Due to COVID-19, the year 2020 witnessed a record number of businesses withdrawing from the market, exceeding 100,000 firms.

However, the year 2020 also recorded the efforts of the business community in overcoming difficulties. Many businesses have changed their strategies, carried out restructuring, retrained human resources, paid more attention to the domestic market and diversifying the consumption market and supply sources. The digital transformation process has gradually been implemented.

These are valuable lessons and experience that the COVID-19 pandemic has offered Vietnamese businesses.

How do you valuate the resilience of Vietnamese businesses in the current context?

In the serious medical crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have suffered great losses and the resilience of the business community is facing limits.

How have Government support packages helped businesses?

Businesses highly valued Government support packages, particularly fiscal policies such as relaxation or deferment of value added taxes, corporate income tax and land hiring fees.

Seventy five per cent of businesses said Government support policies are helpful.

In the current context, what support do businesses need?

If solutions about tax, fees and support relating to access to finance and credits are limited due to limited State budget, measures relating to administrative procedures are easier to implement and have been promoted in recent years but still need to be accelerated. And that is the basic foundation for the recovery and development of businesses.

But it needs to be noted that implementation is often the weakest step. I still say that the earlier policies are put into practice, the better it would support businesses. So it is necessary to give priority to improve the implementation capacity.

Relevant ministries, agencies and authorities of localities need to increase information dissemination about support policies to create conditions for businesses to get access to support packages. It requires specific, detailed and full guidance about implementation procedures and processes to make it simple and easy for businesses to implement.

It also needs policies to create favourable conditions for private enterprises to help them stand firm and able to recover after the pandemic, particularly policies relating to innovation and qualified human resources training to be ready for a new competition.

Businesses must change, so what do State management agencies need to do?

Relevant ministries and agencies need to study and give recommendations to the Government to issue support packages to help businesses recover and expand investment and operation for the new period of 2021-2025.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to continue having adverse impacts across the globe and it could only be completely eliminated in the next four to five years. So in the future, it is essential to have long-term policies.

Finally, it needs to spread or multiple models that effectively cope with COVID-19. For ministries, agencies and localities, that is experience in effectively implementing support packages for businesses. For enterprise associations, that is the sharing of ways to cope with COVID-19 effectively from those firms that have existed and developed in the context of COVID-19, particularly lessons about choosing markets, partners, business relationship and about investing in building core internal driving force of businesses to increase their resilience to deal with shocks. — VNS

According to PNJ chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, these targets mean a 20 and 15 per cent increase in revenue and net profit against last year.

At its annual general meeting of shareholders on April 17 in Ho Chi Minh City, Dung said that 2020 was a remarkable year for PNJ with stronger business recovery after a long time of being suppressed by COVID-19.

“While many companies are forced to reduce their business, PNJ is on a path of steady development and growth,” Dung said.

PNJ targets higher revenue and expanded to the international market this year

The digital transformation in manufacturing and marketing and promotion activities has helped PNJ maintain stable growth.

Dung said that many investors had shown doubts about PNJ’s targets, but the company’s management board confirmed that business prospects this year are much brighter as the pandemic is easing up and the economy has been recovered step by step.

“We have been carefully preparing for the next step of development in the next two years, then we do believe that we can reach that target,” Dung said.

In order to cope with the market turmoil, PNJ has actively restructured its retail outlets. In 2020, the company opened 29 new outlets but closed 36 ones in order to have better rental and locations. This year, PNJ plans to open 40-45 new outlets and invest more in production technologies and product design.

“When global logistics broke down, we have refreshed our entire network. When the first social distancing order from the government was sounded, we have right away implemented online and digital marketing and promotion. These timely reactions have helped maintain our business.”

At the meeting, shareholders also approved plans for 2021, including a private placement of 15 million shares – equivalent to 6.6 per cent of its outstanding shares, to raise its charter capital from VND2.276 trillion ($98.96 million) to VND2.426 trillion ($105.5 million) .

The funds raised will be used to strengthen jewellery production, improve production technologies and product designs, expand the retail network, and speed up digital transformation.

It also approved the issuance of more than 3.4 million shares at VND10,000 per share to employees who have made outstanding contributions.

By Bich Ngoc

Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas holds an umbrella at the Mercedes area after the practice session was cancelled due to bad weather conditions at the Nuerburgring circuit in Nuerburg, western Germany, on October 9, 2020, ahead of the German Formula One Eifel Grand Prix.(WOLFGANG RATTAY / POOL / AFP)

Talking to reporters at the Eifel Grand Prix Wolff said both drivers were confined to their rooms after rain and fog forced the cancellation of opening practice.

“They are the most restricted of the whole group, of the whole team,” said Wolff, who confirmed that Mercedes had flown six replacement staff to Germany on Thursday after the team was re-tested, resulting in six team members going into isolation.

“It’s certainly not a great situation for them because you need almost to live like a hermit – and that is what they are doing.

“They are at home, they are not going out for dinners and they are not meeting other people. When we do de-briefs, by Zoom or Microsoft Teams, they are not sitting their engineers in the room.

“They are in their own rooms and we are all avoiding as much as possible any personal contact. It’s just literally stepping into the car and then driving the car and keeping distance.”

Wolff said he believed Mercedes had the outbreak under control.

“Every loss of an important member in the garage affects the race, but I think we’ve got it under control,” he said.

The team had announced on Thursday that one person from their travelling race team had record a positive test ahead of this weekend’s race at Nurburgring.

As a result, the team re-tested everyone at the circuit, an exercise that resulted in another positive test and one that was inconclusive.

Both of those team members were immediately put into isolation along with four others.

The team flew six reserve staff to Germany on Thursday, a decision that maintained the numbers at the track, but has thrown the champions’ race preparations into difficulty.

Six-time world champion Hamilton who is making a second attempt to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Grand Prix victories, described the events as “a concern”.

Speaking on Thursday, he said: “It’s sad to hear, for the guys that work so hard. We obviously had this week in between [races] and those guys work so hard to stay safe and be here on the weekends.”

Mercedes said they are following strictly all of the protocols laid down by the sport’s ruling body the International Motoring Federation (FIA), adding that they are not releasing any further information.

AFP

Artist Bùi Hoàng Dương. Photo courtesy of the artist

HÀ NỘI  The secrets of spiritual culture and life of the Mường ethnic minority in the north-central province of Thanh Hóa will be revealed at an exhibition titled Mo Mường to be held this week.

The exhibition will display 35 paintings and two installations by Bùi Hoàng Dương, a Mường artist from Thanh Hóa.

It features the Mo Mường – a popular ritual ceremony which has become the unique cultural heritage of the Mường ethnic community in Thanh Hóa and many other provinces in the northern mountainous region.

Mo Mường is a job and also a performance practiced at funerals, religious festivals, and life cycle rituals by the ethnic Mường sorcerers.

“Ah…. Today I clasp my hands together to pray to you here.” That is the opening words of a sorcerer in most of the praying practice that Dương had been very familiar with since he was a little child living in his native village in Thạch Thành District.

Dương said he was born in a family with generations of practicing the  Mường prayers. His great-grandfather recited the prayers but since he passed away in 1954, the practice no longer remained in the family. However, many of his followers tried to preserve it.

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An oii and canvas painting features part of the Mo Mường practice. — Photo courtesy of the artist

​The artist said his exhibition was aimed to help promote and preserve the unique cultural value of the Mường.

“About 10 years ago, many people did not understand Mường prayer, so considered it a kind of superstition due to the wrong methods of some local shamans. Actually, Mường prayers are all about morality, ethics and doctrines of humanity and life that teach people about good personality, social behaviour and filial piety. Many practitioners now understand they have a responsibility to lead the nation in the best spiritual direction, maintain and protect the cultural foundations,” said Dương.

Dương, who has travelled extensively throughout the country and abroad since 2000, has a deep and endless affection for social life, humans and animals particularly dogs which appear in many of his works displayed in this exhibition.

Commenting on his works, writer Nguyễn Đình Chính said: “It is not unusual that when people see paintings, they often ignore what is ‘right or wrong, ugly or beautiful’. If they like, they will stop to look at them but If they don’t, they will walk away.”

“It is not like that for Dương’s paintings. Even if you don’t like them, you can’t walk away,” he said.

“Be patient and wait until the colour and lines in the paintings disappear. The paintings are slowly emanating and erupting a very strange but familiar energy. It is not the energy that pushes people to drown and become corrupted in hatred, greed and confusion but a clean spirit that inspires people to slowly find the deep, pure, true dimension hidden in their souls, helping us know who we are, where we come from and where we will go. Strangely, we also understand deeply about the natural world, which we are exposed to every day by our five senses. That real world, actually is not real,” Chính said.

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A painting shows one Mo performing the Mo Mường – a spiritual activity of the Mường people in Thanh Hóa Province. — Photo courtesy of the artist

​This is Dương’s fourth solo exhibitions since 2007. His latest group exhibition was XOM, which took place in Hà Nội last August.

He chose this time to open the display as it was safer since COVID-19 impacted the whole art and culture sector. The artist said he spent almost a year preparing for it and hoped he would help preserve the Mường epic poem “Land and Water”.

Through the generations, Mường prayers have been passed down verbally in the community. When they’re collected, translated, and published in books, however, they begin to exist separately from people.

These days, most Mường prayers are called “Mo Mường”. They are a collection of verses recited at traditional Mường funerals.

Each Mường community has its own version of prayers, but they are all fairly similar. The existence of various versions of “Mo Mường” has helped expand the heritage and spiritual life of the Mường people.

The Mo Mường exhibition will open between April 24-28 at the Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum at 66 Nguyễn Thái Học Street, Hà Nội. — VNS

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