Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has proposed a second relief package worth VND26 trillion (US$1.13 billion) for businesses and laborers financially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This will be the second assistance package, following a previous relief worth VND62 trillion (US$2.6 billion) released last year for the poor and businesses stricken by Covid-19, according to Minister of MoLISA Dao Ngoc Dung.

Underprivileged people in Hanoi receive support in mid-2020. Photo: Duc Binh

Dung said that the Covid-19 pandemic keeps causing a strong impact on the labor market.

In the first quarter of 2021, more than nine million workers were affected. Of them, more than 500,000 lost their jobs and nearly three million had to take unpaid leave, Dung cited.

The fourth Covid-19 outbreak, which started in late April, has spread to industrial parks and export processing zones, where hundreds of thousands of people are employed. Industries including passenger transport, aviation, tourism, hotel, and entertainment services have been paralyzed.

The second support package's procedures are expected to be clearer and simpler than the current ones.

Last April, the Vietnamese Government enacted a relief package worth VND62 trillion (US$2.7 billion) to provide financial support for some 20 million vulnerable people directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It targeted six categories of individuals and businesses.

As of May 2021, nearly VND14 trillion of the package had been disbursed to help 13.2 million people.

The Economic Committee of the National Assembly on June 15 said the package has not been as effective as desired in helping laborers and businesses hit by the pandemic.

Many people in need have complained about complicated procedures preventing them from getting support.

The committee suggested the Government make a comprehensive assessment of past support policies to make them and future ones more effective.