Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Industry and Trade has coordinated with other government agencies, business groups and districts in the city to ensure supply of essential goods at stable prices amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Customers buy fresh food at a supermarket in HCM City. (Photo: VNA)

It has asked production units and enterprises participating in the city’s price stabilisation programme and distribution systems to ensure timely, adequate and continuous supply of goods.

They have been instructed to ensure supply is 30-40% higher than during normal periods and be ready to promptly ship goods to price-stabilised and other retail stores.

They also need to prepare raw materials to increase supply by 50-100% if necessary.

It has urged retailers to promote sales online and via telephone.

Nguyen Huynh Trang, its deputy director, said in the worst-case scenario of COVID-19 spreading in the community, her department would implement measures to help enterprises stockpile goods and raw materials and ensure production and supply are not interrupted.

The city plans to restrict the export of raw materials required for producing food and products for prevention and control of the pandemic as well as the finished products, she said.

"Face mask manufacturers and distributors in HCM City have stepped up the production and supply to meet consumer demand. Co.opmart, Vinmart, Lotte Mart, Satra, and Big C supermarket chains have been providing a variety of antibacterial cloth masks.”

The department also has specific plans for supply of food to quarantine areas in three scenarios: the numbers of COVID-19 patients are 100, 300 and 500 and the numbers of isolated people are 10,000, 20,000 and 40,000.

It has estimated the quantity of vegetables, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, rice and bottled water required in each scenario so that it can secure supply.

It and the Department of Health are responsible for providing food and other basic necessities to people in quarantine areas.

Together with the city market management sub-department, it will strengthen inspection to prevent speculation and price gouging.

Nguyen Anh Duc, deputy director of Saigon Co.op, said its supermarkets have stocked a large volume of goods to ensure supply and offered discounts on many products at their more than 800 stores nation-wide.