Key messages

• Covid-19 has had a significant impact on economic development in Vietnam, as well as on businesses, workers, communities and households in Son La and Thua Thien Hue provinces.
• To address the consequences of Covid-19, the Government of Vietnam and the People’s Committees of Son La and Thua Thien Hue provinces have implemented a variety of policies in order to support businesses and individuals financially, such as reducing taxes and financial responsibilities; ensuring social security for underprivileged groups including women, children and ethnic minorities; and guaranteeing agroforestry and production areas. In addition to public financial resources, local governments and residents also mobilize support from public and private sector organizations in order to help Covid-19 recovery.
• Support from the government and the public has partly helped in reducing the impacts of Covid-19 on businesses and individuals. However, many challenges remain in developing and implementing policies, including: (i) many stakeholders face challenges having no timely access to information or the capacity to complete administrative procedures; (ii) state agencies’ implementation processes are slowly falling behind schedule and are untimely due to overlapping and inconsistent instructions; and (iii) support is so slow that it only assists people in purchasing daily necessities but not in recovering from Covid.
• Current support policies are primarily aimed at assisting businesses, people infected with Covid-19 and workers. Support is extremely limited for ethnic minority groups and women and children. Covid-19 recovery policies should be considered in order to provide timely, accessible and relevant support to vulnerable groups’ needs and capacities.