The survey on socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 on vulnerable households and businesses in Vietnam was conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWOMEN) and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.

The survey covers 900 households and 900 super small businesses in 58 among 63 cities and provinces nationwide. Immigrants and ethnic minority groups are affected the most.

The sharpest income decrease was reported in April as the surveyed income was around 70% lower than that of last December. The rate was roughly 48.9% in May.

Most super small companies have also scaled down their business activities and staff numbers because of the bad impact of the pandemic.

According to Elisa Fernandez Saenz UN Women representative in Vietnam, the consequences of Covid-19 pandemic needed to be dealt with quickly to avoid gender inequality.

Luu Quang Khanh, Director of the National Centre for Socio-economic Information and Forecasting, said that the pandemic has severely affected the country’s economic growth. The government should take more drastic measures to help households and small firms to recover after the pandemic.

Hanoimoi/Dtinews