Plan to prevent agricultural congestion in epidemic areas

The local industry and trade sector also coordinates with agriculture, connecting retail systems and large distribution enterprises to bring goods to domestic supermarkets and for export.

Trucks leaving Hai Duong during the third wave of the pandemic, February 2021. Photo:Giang Huy.

Retail and distribution businesses say they are ready to support.agricultural consumptionin localities. Accordingly, the supply contract with local distributors and cooperatives was signed by Co.opmart Hanoi a few months ago, but Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung - Director of this supermarket said that she is still ready to import and consume agricultural products from localities with epidemics.

"We are ready to help people sell agricultural products, but departments and branches need to coordinate with local epidemic prevention steering committees to help vehicles carrying goods and essential foods circulate smoothly," she noted.

The Domestic Market Department also recommends that manufactured and transported goods must ensure food safety and comply with regulations on disease prevention and control of the health and transportation sectors.Ministry of Industry and Trade"We are closely monitoring developments in the commodity market to promptly have plans to handle supply and demand instability," said Ms. Nga.

At an online meeting with 63 provinces and cities on May 7, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested localities to apply social distancing according to decentralization but must ensure customs clearance of goods and production materials. "The task at this time is to both fight the epidemic and overcome the consequences, and develop the economy," the Prime Minister emphasized.

Currently, some localities have implemented small-scale lockdowns in certain areas and large-scale social isolation to prevent the spread of the epidemic. The Domestic Market Department said that commercial and shopping activities in localities with epidemics are still taking place normally. "There is no phenomenon of people rushing to buy and hoard goods," the leader of the Domestic Market Department affirmed.

Surveys at supermarkets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some localities such as Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong... also show that goods are fully stocked and prices are stable. Supermarkets are constantly meeting with suppliers to ensure adequate supply, increase production capacity of essential goods such as instant noodles, pork and processed meat products, milk, sugar, salt...retail systemalso launched a program to stimulate shopping, such as Co.opmart selling 10,000 essential products at a discount of 20-50%. At the traditional market, green vegetables increased slightly, but food prices remained stable.

Customers shop at a supermarket on Dai La Street, Hanoi. Photo: Thai Anh.

As the locality with the highest number of Covid-19 infections in this outbreak (94 cases as of the evening of May 8), Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Lan - Acting Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade said that the Department has worked with businesses producing, distributing and retailing essential goods to ensure supply and stabilize the market. On this occasion, Hanoi has tripled the amount of essential goods. The amount of goods prepared to serve the people of the capital for 3 months is worth about 194,000 billion VND.

The Department also developed a scenario for supplying and transporting goods to people in isolated and locked-down areas at 3 levels. Level 1 is 20 to under 1,000 cases, the value of goods supplied is nearly 314 billion VND. Level 2 is 1,000-3,000 cases, the supply of goods increases more than 3 times, approximately 1,049 billion VND. In the scenario where Hanoi has 3,000-30,000 cases, the value of goods is up to more than 5,359 billion VND.

"There is no shortage of goods in the capital. Supermarkets have doubled or tripled their reserves to ensure enough goods and no price increases," the leader of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade affirmed.

Similarly, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade also proposed epidemic response scenarios. The department requested local units to ensure sufficient and smooth supply of gasoline, oil, food, essential food, masks, hand sanitizer, etc.

Particularly in Quang Ngai, on the afternoon of May 6, people's buying and selling demand increased by 30% compared to normal days due to information about new positive cases in the area, however, by the morning of May 7, the market had returned to stability.

For each distribution business, supermarkets have increased their inventory, with some items being enough to sell for up to 4 months.

The Saigon Co.op system has stockpiled about 12,000 tons of agricultural and aquatic products, supplying an average of 200,000 masks and more than 10,000 bottles of hand sanitizer per day. Purchasing power at Co.opmart supermarkets is stable, with no situation of people rushing to buy necessities due to fear of the epidemic as happened in the first wave of the epidemic last year.

With experience in preparing goods from the previous 3 epidemics, Lottemart representative said that they still ensure enough goods, no need to worry about shortage. Meanwhile, BigC supermarket chain has doubled the amount of goods in stock at warehouses to supply the market. With masks, the amount of goods is enough to sell for 4 months.

In addition to traditional channels, distribution businesses also promote online sales channels and free home delivery during the epidemic season. The number of online and phone orders at Vinmart has doubled or tripled compared to normal days.