In nearly a month of restoring operations in 4 industrial parks of Dinh Tram, Quang Chau, Van Trung and Song Khe – Noi Hoang, 178 businesses were approved to resume operations with more than 19,300 employees.

Resuming production for nearly three weeks now, Hiraki Vietnam Company (Dinh Tram Industrial Park, Viet Yen, Bac Giang) has only reached 30% of the number of employees returning to work compared to before the outbreak.

To get workers at this time, a part of the total area of 10,000 m2 of the factory was converted by this enterprise into accommodation and food for workers according to local government regulations.

Bac Giang workers returned to the factory to work after a period of interruption due to the epidemic, at the end of May 2021.

`Every day the number of workers returning to work at the factory increases a little, now there are only 60-70 workers returning to work,` said Mr. Nguyen Duc Cuong – General Director of Hiraki Vietnam Company.

Even with the recently proposed plan that allows businesses to arrange accommodation for workers both inside and outside the production area, according to Mr. Cuong, it is not easy.

For a business with up to 11,000 employees like Crystal Martin, the option of arranging on-site accommodation or renting accommodation for workers is also difficult.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ngoc – Deputy Head of Bac Giang Industrial Park Management Board, businesses all produce in continuous production lines, missing one link will not complete the product.

For workers in the `green zone` of Bac Giang province, they have the choice of staying at the company’s accommodation or going to work and returning to their place of residence or temporary residence every day by personal vehicle or shuttle bus.

If workers travel by personal vehicle to the factory, the `2 points, 1 road` principle must be followed.

For workers in the `yellow zone`, businesses must arrange centralized accommodation and transportation according to the principle that each vehicle can only have one worker from one company.

Bac Giang province also allows businesses to welcome workers from outside the province, where the risk is low.

Every day, the Bac Giang Department of Health will publicly announce `green zones` for people and businesses to monitor, helping them proactively plan production and transport workers.

With the decision to divide labor flows according to green – yellow zones, the difficult labor problem is partly solved.

Before the fourth outbreak broke out and Bac Giang became the epicenter of the epidemic, Hiraki Vietnam’s more than 10,000 m2 factory in Dinh Tram Industrial Park operated at full capacity with 400-500 sets of molds for partners Canon,

Mr. Cuong said that, even if the factory is fully operational again, it will take at least 3 months to restore the state as before the epidemic.

On the other hand, because it is a supplier in the production chain, a business like Hiraki will only fully restore sales if the remaining suppliers return to production.

For example, three Vietnamese enterprises are supply partners, participating in the production chain of foreign enterprises with each step of painting, plating, plastic molds, screws… Suppose one of these three enterprises is stopped.

Stop 4 industrial parks from the beginning of May, according to calculations.

Businesses proposed that competent authorities should consider delaying and postponing insurance payments, loans, land rent… to avoid having their cash flow `broken` due to stopping production for a long time.

In addition, they also want to increase the number of workers vaccinated against Covid-19, as this is still considered `the key to returning to a new normal state`.

At a meeting to remove difficulties for businesses on June 25, Mr. Phan The Tuan – Vice Chairman of Bac Giang People’s Committee said that the province continues to prioritize vaccination for workers and related service workers.

This province aims to bring 30,000 workers back to work by the end of July and reach 120,000 people in 4 industrial parks by the end of the year.