Talk about hcm city

The War Remnants Museum is expected to offer free entrance from August until the end of this year. — File photo courtesy of the museum

The loans will help tourism companies pay at least 50 per cent of their employees’ salaries for three months. The loans are expected to cover about 31,500 employees working in 5,002 tourism businesses in the city.

The city-funded loan package will be handled by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) – HCM City branch.

Vietravel chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that tourism businesses were currently making very little or no profit.

He estimated that tens of thousands of tourism employees have lost or quit their jobs due to the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Vietravel had nearly 1,500 employees, but now has only 50 people to maintain the company’s operation.

Apart from the loan package, the department has proposed that the People’s Committee support training expenses for tourism personnel this year. The training expense of VND1.2 billion ($52,295) includes VND1 billion from the city budget and VND200 million from other sources.

The money will be used for 20 training courses for tour guides, and managers and staff working for tourism-service providers, food and beverage businesses, and hotels.

The department also suggested free entrance fees at the city’s main attractions from August until the end of 2021. The attractions include the War Remnants Museum, the Vietnam History Museum in HCM City, the HCM City Museum, the HCM City Fine Arts Museum, and the Cu Chi Tunnels Relic Site.

In order to offset losses in ticket sales, the city was also asked to provide VND21 billion ($915,168) to pay for salaries and expenses at these five attractions.

According to the Tourism Department, the total number of domestic travelers to the city in the first five months of this year was 7.1 million, up 11.4 per cent year on year. The city, however, has had no international tourists this year because of COVID-related travel restrictions.

Total tourism revenue during the period was estimated at VND35.58 trillion (US$1.55 billion), an increase of 23.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

The number of tourism businesses operating in the city dropped by 50 per cent in the first five months, while 171 businesses had their licenses revoked.

Source: Vietnam News

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F1 cases are being required to go to quarantine centres while F2 cases are home-isolated since they are considered to pose lower risks. However, due to the fast-rising number of cases, the quarantine centres are overwhelmed and the city is planning to let F1 cases self-isolate.

Hung said F1 cases in many other countries also home-isolate. Moreover, people are more at ease at homes. However, not all cases can stay at their homes, like people with roommates or tiny houses. People who are home-isolated should not leave their room and medical staff will visit daily to check on their situation. Local authorities will be asked to monitor the cases to prevent cross-infection in their areas.

Hung said they would pilot the plan at some locations before expanding to the whole city. They are still debating on whether or not technology should be used to monitor those cases so that their privacy will not be invaded.

Locals seek necessities at Co.opXtra Vạn Hạnh in HCM City’s District 10. Photo courtesy of nld.com.vn

HCM CITY — Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many food firms in HCM have been able to maintain stable prices for their products.

The current difficulty is a “test” to assess how professional businesses are keeping the city’s food market stable.

After the first week of social distancing in HCM City, Trương Chí Thiện, general director of Vĩnh Thành Đạt Food Joint Stock Company, said the prices of chicken and duck eggs had remained relatively low.

Buying power has slowed down compared to last week, he said.

Previously, due to the fear of the epidemic and implementation of social distancing, the consumption of fresh food, including poultry eggs, rose dramatically. At some markets in HCM City, the price of chicken eggs and duck eggs skyrocketed by VNĐ10,000 per pack of 10 eggs.

“Businesses then immediately coordinated with supermarkets and food warehouses to replenish supply of food at the original price. Chicken eggs were sold at VNĐ26,000 per pack of 10 and duck eggs at VNĐ31,000 per pack. This set food prices at markets back to the normal state,” Thiện said.

According to poultry egg production and trading enterprises, the consumption of eggs during the social distancing period has not increased significantly. Meanwhile, the price of animal feed has risen by 20 to 30 per cent.

“Even though these firms have been suffering from a slight loss from duck egg sales, they all have agreed to keep prices stable. The current challenge for us is to affirm our role in helping the city get through this difficult period,”  Thiện added.

Meanwhile, general director of Việt Nam Animal Industry Joint Stock Company (VISSAN) Nguyễn Ngọc An said that input prices had increased due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the scarcity of some materials which have to be imported from overseas, the output price of most products has not risen.

Since the price of live pork is on the decline, Vissan has offered discounts on some fresh pork products until June 16 to share difficulties with consumers and stimulate purchasing power.

“Locals only focused on shopping on the first and second day of social distancing. However, firms have continued to produce and store large quantities according to the city plan,” An said.

Large distributors such as Saigon Co.op, Central Retail, Satra and Vinmart are also negotiating with suppliers to postpone price adjustment and maintain stable prices for at least a few months.

The supermarket systems have promoted agricultural products and fruits with excess output because of the inability to export, and have coordinated with suppliers to offer discounts and strengthened telesales and delivery as well.

Handling delivery

Maintaining a stable circulation of food is the most important task among businesses at this time.

Many firms said that social distancing has brought difficulties in terms of transportation of goods and medical declaration.

However, these have been handled by relevant authorities. For example, the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade promptly proposed that the city Department of Transport create favourable conditions for trucks to efficiently carry goods across the city around the clock, instead of during peak hours as before.

But transportation of goods to neighbouring provinces has encountered certain troubles. A few days ago, a Vissan delivery vehicle to Bạc Liêu had to return to HCM City despite having all the necessary documents and medical declarations.

Bách Hoá Xanh Joint Stock Company had the same problem when carrying goods to Long An. The checkpoint at the province requires drivers from HCM City to be vaccinated when passing the station.

After receiving complaints from similar firms, the province has agreed to allow vehicles to travel in and out of the area. However, firms must commit to take full responsibility if there is a risk of a positive case. — VNS

Many major transport projects will be completed this year in HCM City. Photo: tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY  HCM City People’s Committee has issued a plan for transport infrastructure development for the 2021-2030 period.

By 2030, the city targets building an additional 652km of roads, 212km of railways and bus rapid transit, 365km of inland waterways, 81 bridge projects, 15 major intersections, and seven projects under the smart city programme.

In addition, the city expects to complete investment plans for highways and national highways connecting the city with provinces in the Southern Key Economic Zone.

By the end of this year, the city expects to complete four main roads in Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area, the Thủ Thiêm 2 Bridge, and the Đồng Văn Cống road expansion project.

In addition, the city will complete the upgrading of provincial road No 9, an overpass at the Eastern bus station, and the Vàm Sát 2 Bridge in Cần Giờ District.

Total expected capital to implement all of these projects in 2021 is VNĐ137 trillion (US$6 billion), including about VNĐ63 trillion from the state budget, and VNĐ74 trillion from other sources. — VNS