Flexible to stabilize production and business soon

Storm No. 11 (Matmo) has left unprecedentedly severe consequences for the business community in Thai Nguyen. Hundreds of factories, shops, and headquarters were submerged in water; machinery and equipment were damaged, raw materials and goods were swept away or severely damaged. Although there are no official statistics yet, many businesses suffered losses ranging from several billion to tens of billions, even hundreds of billions of VND.

The entire 1,500 square meter factory with tens of thousands of tons of paper and goods of Tuan Hoang Brand Printing and Design Company Limited was submerged in water, causing great damage.

Unwanted effects

Many businessmen shared that they have never celebrated Vietnamese Businessmen’s Day (October 13) with such sadness and anxiety. Most are struggling to overcome the consequences, hoping to return to normal operations soon.

At Bac Thai Petroleum Company, one of the key units in ensuring fuel supply for the entire province, dozens of more than 140 stores were flooded and had to temporarily stop operations.

Mr. Luong Tat Thang, Store Manager of Gas Station No. 6, said: During the days of power outage and internet outage, we tried to overcome all difficulties, especially during the peak period on October 7, the Store increased service hours to meet the needs of people and relief groups. Although it was very difficult, all officers and employees tried to prevent the market from falling into a state of gasoline shortage.

Some industries such as banking, printing, food, electronics, refrigeration, food, construction materials, etc. also suffered heavy losses. BIDV Thai Nguyen Branch recorded 8 ATMs being severely damaged, the entire basement of the headquarters was flooded, causing the electrical system, backup generators, high-pressure pumps, cameras, etc. to be paralyzed. At times, the unit had to temporarily stop transactions.

Mr. Than Van Truong, Deputy Director of the Branch, shared: After the water receded, until the afternoon of October 10, the Branch still had no power, but the unit tried to partially fix it, running some on the server system and small workstations of some transaction offices. The unit is trying to fix other failures so that when the power is restored, especially when the generator is fixed, the operations of the Head Office as well as the entire Branch will return to normal on October 13.

Immediately after the incident occurred, the Branch also informed customers and announced the transfer of the Branch's operations to some neighboring branches such as BIDV Nam Thai Nguyen Branch to be able to carry out necessary transactions.

According to representatives of some business associations in the province: The damage to businesses in this storm is not only material, but can also lead to many consequences such as: loss of contracts, loss of labor, broken supply chains, cash flow disruption and risk of bad debt. The larger the business, the greater the damage.

Due to power outage and the generator system being flooded, the operations of BIDV Thai Nguyen Branch were severely affected during and after the storm.

Determination to overcome difficulties

As soon as the floodwaters receded, most businesses immediately began to fix the problem: from cleaning up, repairing equipment, to finding solutions to maintain production and business… All showed their determination not to give up.

At Mai Nga Company Limited (No. 333, Thong Nhat Street, Gia Sang Ward), specializing in fire prevention and fighting equipment, on October 10 (i.e. as soon as electricity and water were available), all employees were mobilized to clean the factory and check equipment and goods.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao, the company manager, said: Some of our employees' houses were also flooded, but everyone returned to work, some cleaning the workshop, others supporting their colleagues. The spirit of solidarity helped the company quickly resume operations on the morning of October 11.

At Cao Ngan Thermal Power Joint Stock Company, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Chung, Deputy Director, shared: On October 7, when the water level reached its peak, the Company implemented the 4-on-site policy. Regarding production, due to the requirements of the Company's process, we had to temporarily stop the operation of 2 generators.

By the afternoon of October 8, both generators had restarted to supply electricity to the national grid. The temporary suspension of production activities has more or less affected the Company's production activities, but we have tried to overcome it to ensure the plan assigned by the Corporation.

Tuan Hoang Brand Printing and Design Co., Ltd., Group 8, Tich Luong Ward, is one of the units that suffered heavy damage. Ms. Hoang Thi Hai Linh, Deputy Director of the Company, said: About 20 tons of paper and finished products, along with 1,500 square meters of factory were flooded nearly 1 meter. The estimated damage is about 6-7 billion VND, not to mention the machinery worth nearly 20 billion VND that could be completely damaged. In the days after the storm, all of the unit's human resources were mobilized to clean up. We cannot yet determine the time to resume operations.

Businesses are working hard to clean up and repair damaged property after the flood to soon stabilize production and business activities.

The Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative in Viet Cuong hamlet, Dong Hy commune, was in the same situation. The entire factory and production area of ​​16 members of the cooperative was deeply flooded, damaging more than 400 tons of vermicelli and 400 tons of flour, along with machinery and packaging systems. The damage was estimated at about 8 billion VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, Director of the Cooperative, said: “We lost everything. To repair the machines and equipment, we had to wait because the number of broken equipment in the whole province was too much. However, what warmed our hearts was that many customers still committed to continue placing orders when the Cooperative resumed operations. That is the motivation for us to try to restart in about 1 month.”

Need support policies

According to many businesses in the province, the biggest difficulty now is the lack of capital to restore production. Most of the units had previously borrowed from banks, but now they are facing huge losses and do not have enough cash flow to reinvest.

In addition, data loss, damage to electronic equipment, contract interruptions, etc. put many small businesses at risk of losing customers, especially during the peak season at the end of the year.

Faced with this reality, businesses all have the same wish: The State Bank and credit institutions will soon consider debt forgiveness, debt extension, and interest rate reduction for affected businesses and business households. Tax authorities, Social Insurance, etc., have policies to postpone and extend payment deadlines. Local authorities will support infrastructure restoration and environmental treatment.

Mr. Than Van Truong, Deputy Director of BIDV Thai Nguyen Branch: We look forward to receiving the sharing and sympathy from customers. The Branch will strive to overcome the problems to soon stabilize operations and serve customers in the best way. When there are support policies, the Branch will soon implement them so that people and businesses can feel secure in stabilizing production and business after the storm.

While waiting for specific support policies from the Central and the province, Thai Nguyen enterprises are still "saving themselves" in many ways: temporarily changing production locations, flexibly dividing shifts, mobilizing internal capital, or linking with other enterprises to maintain orders.

Many businesses see this as an opportunity to review their disaster prevention plans, invest in upgrading flood control systems, and in property insurance - things that were previously given little attention.

It can be said that storm No. 11 has passed, but the consequences it left behind are still present and persistent in the production and business of hundreds of Thai Nguyen enterprises. In such a turbulent context, the will, determination and solidarity of the business community need to be promoted more than ever.

Along with that, businesses need the support of the government, departments, branches and people, especially in this period. Only when businesses are stable, can the local economy recover firmly.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202510/linh-hoat-de-som-on-dinh-san-xuat-kinh-doanh-84a7ab1/