VCCI proposes policies to support businesses recovering from Typhoon Yagi

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has proposed policies to the Prime Minister for supporting businesses impacted by Typhoon Yagi.

In its proposal submitted to the PM, VCCI reported severe damage to assets and production activities of directly affected businesses, with economic losses estimated at trillions of VND. Many other businesses in the northern region were indirectly affected, leading to closures, production halts, or reductions in productivity and sales.

VCCI emphasized an urgent need for economic policies in support of businesses in the north, helping them to rebuild and restore operations, to mitigatelong-term damage and to support livelihoods of workers.

For sectors and localities most severely affected, including fishing vessels, tourism boats, and aquaculture cages, VCCI suggested increasing the support amount and applying it to aquaculture enterprises, following Decree 02/2017/ND-CP; and waiving water surface rental fees for aquaculture facilities until the end of 2025 and related fees like port entry and exit fees for 6-12 months.

The State should support 50-70% of insurance costs for fishing vessels and tourism boats until the end of 2025; reduce value-added tax, corporate income tax, and personal income tax by 50% for 4-6 months; reduce social insurance contributions; and waive trade union fund contributions to the upper level for the same period.

For other sectors and fields affected by floods, VCCI recommended implementing support measures for agricultural production recovery as stipulated in Decree 02/2017/ND-CP; and expanding support eligibility to include agricultural production enterprises and increasing support levels.

To address the impact on petroleum and electricity, VCCI proposed reducing value-added tax from 10% to 8% for retail petroleum establishments in affected localities from September to December 2024, and from 8% to 6% for electricity users in affected localities.

VCCI also proposed extending deadlines for value-added tax, corporate income tax, land rental payments, and social insurance contributions for businesses in affected localities.

Additionally, VCCI asked the Prime Minister to direct the disbursement of the Disaster Prevention Fund to assist in relief and recovery efforts.