(Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)

At a virtual meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Bac Ninh provincial leaders said that if its industrial parks suspend operation for two weeks, losses could total 2.2 million USD. The province will lose 4% and Vietnam will lose 0.5% of its annual industrial production.

They said the production chain is at risk of being disrupted because a number of suppliers have suspended operation due to the pandemic. If the suspension continues, production and export losses will likely be billions of dollars.

Dao Hong Lan, Secretary of Bac Ninh provincial Party Committee, said that to ensure safety in production, Bac Ninh province has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade develop a plan to distance production lines and stagger production schedules.

'Maintaining production in industrial parks is very important, not only to Bac Ninh province, but to the entire country. We want the Ministry of Industry and Trade to help us create a production plan that compensates for worker reduction and distancing and reinforces trust in the response of the Ministry and the locality,' said Lan.

Bac Ninh province has Vietnam’s highest industrial production value. The value of electronic and mechanical products exported by Bac Giang and Bac Ninh is 30% of Vietnam’s total.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien supports Bac Ninh’s proposal. Dien said, 'We need to help factories in industrial parks implement COVID-19 prevention measures and evaluate safety levels and COVID-19’s impact to work out effective production plans. Each production unit needs to develop its own plan for zoning and curbing outbreaks. This is very important. We need to regularly check safety levels in factories and immediately shut down insecure factories.'

The Minister asked the local Department of Industry and Trade to stock sufficient emergency supplies.