The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had negative impacts on the domestic wooden processing industry, but this is also an opportunity for timber enterprises to review their production and business methods maintain stability at present and drive for sustainable development in the future.

While the difficulties facing Vietnam in securing materials for production have subsided as China and the Republic of Korea have essentially contained the coronavirus epidemic, new challenges have arisen when the epidemic spreads to the EU and the US, two major importers of Vietnamese goods.

The coronavirus pandemic will pull down the global economy to its worst post-war recession, bringing with it economies like the Philippines which is poised to notch its weakest growth in more than two decades.

The increasingly widespread COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the operation of a number of Vietnamese agricultural exporters. It is essential for enterprises to receive support from local governments and look for a new direction for their products.

Leaders attending the online Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 response, chaired by Việt Nam on Tuesday, shared experience and discussed concrete measures to stamp out the pandemic.

The ASEAN Secretariat has published its policy brief highlighting the economic impact of COVID-19 on ASEAN recently.

Despite being hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic, many Vietnamese businesses have been quick to catch up with the trends and switch to new products to gain decent growth amid the major shift in global consumption.

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA)’s member enterprises suffered a strong reduction in production and business in the first quarter of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) has made a list of 5,000 exporters that need help in finding markets amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has recently written an article on ASEAN cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in which he described solidarity as the grouping’s strength in the combat.