To understand the impact of the COVID-19 on companies in Vietnam and prioritise the measures needed to support them, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (CCIFV) launched an online survey among the business community. A total of 116 representatives participated and gave their view on the situation as of the end of March 2020.
Indochina Research joined hand with CCIFV to analyse the data and prepare the report with key findings and the full report available for download.

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Coronavirus impact on business – Keynotes

The results of the survey come from a wide variety of companies (n=116) established in Vietnam, working mostly in the tertiary (73%) and secondary sectors (23%).

1. The impact on business

• All respondents anticipate a loss in revenue. For half of them, the loss is estimated for at least 30% this year.
• Among the problems arising from the crisis, international mobility and cash flow are the most mentioned. Large firms are more impacted by procurement limitations.
• Companies are facing high risks of order delays or cancellations (68%), the cash flow requirement (60%) and for one-third their survival is at stake.
• About half of the respondents consider cash flow to be a threat to their company in the coming 3 months and 10% are facing it in the very short term (1 month).
• The anticipated need for cash flow: €10 million by the end of June, growing to €20 million by the end of 2020.

2. Operational measures taken by companies

• All respondents have implemented a number of measures to protect their employees and adjust their activity. Remote work (74%), canceling business trips (70%) and enforcing prevention measures (50%) are the main ones.
• If staff dismissal measures are only now taken by a few companies (17%), almost half are already considering some potential layoffs. The higher intentions of layoffs are in the service sector (tourism, retail and business service).
• Most companies (75%) had yet to approach the authorities for support at the time of the survey.
• The measures considered of the highest interest are the delay or cancellation of PIT, VAT, SI, and CIT. Cancellation of PIT would indeed benefit both employers and employees by supporting the economy with increased consumption once the activity restarts.

3. Supports from the Governmemt

• Most companies (75%) had yet to approach the authorities for support at the time of the survey.
• The measures considered of the highest interest are the delay or cancellation of PIT, VAT, SI, and CIT. Cancellation of PIT would indeed benefit both employers and employees by supporting the economy with increased consumption once the activity restarts.

Please download the full report here and the full data table here

Please see other reports here

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