The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has said that nearly VND3.54 trillion ($147.6 million) has been disbursed out of a total of VND6.6 trillion ($275.24 million) in rental support for more than 5.1 million workers, or 54.53 per cent of the original target. The government issued Decision No. 08/QD-TTg in March on rental support for workers affected by Covid-19.
Figures show that as of August 25, local social insurance agencies had provided support from the Unemployment Insurance Fund to more than 339,000 employees totaling more than VND963 billion ($40 million). Nineteen of Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces have completed implementing the support package from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Ho Chi Minh City is planning to spend nearly VND1.8 trillion ($76.9 million) on rental support for nearly 1.8 million workers, but has so far disbursed only VND104 billion ($4.47 million) to nearly 196,000 workers, or just 5.8 per cent of the support package.
After three months of implementation, the “Social Impact Business (SIB) Support Package to Respond to Covid-19” has selected 29 SIBs in the agriculture and tourism sectors for support over six months and granted them VND100 million ($4,275) each to test and perfect innovative business models and replicate the potential social impact.
Vietnam appears to be recovering quite slowly from the pandemic, and without a sufficiently large support package will fall behind. Many economists have therefore proposed economic support packages for 2022 and 2023 totaling VND445.76 trillion ($19.5 billion), or nearly 5.5 per cent of GDP.
Nearly 24 million employees hit by Covid-19 have been given a total of VND21.89 trillion ($961.76 million) out of a support package of VND26 trillion ($1.14 billion). The Unemployment Insurance Fund has also supported more than 540,000 workers affected by Covid-19, with a total amount of VND1.25 trillion ($54.92 million).
Social insurance agencies had confirmed a list as of September 17 of more than 1.2 million employees with over 38,200 employers that can benefit from a support package totaling VND26 trillion ($1.14 billion).
Employers, vocational training centers, and workers affected by Covid-19 will benefit from a support package of VND4.5 trillion ($196.89 million) for training, improving vocational skills, and maintaining jobs. Certain conditions and standards must be met to access the package.
