In a request sent to the government ahead of a proposed online conference between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and businesses, Pham Thanh Tung, deputy general director of the company, said the previous general director had been recalled to Japan in March.

His successor, Ueda Hiroyuki, has been unable to come to Vietnam due to not having a Japanese certificate proving he does not have Covid-19. He had been scheduled to assume his new position on April 1.

With Ueda working remotely, many important decisions such as changes to production, sales plans, payroll, and investment could not be reviewed in time, causing the company to waste time and lose the opportunity to restart production, the communication said.

The company stopped production in late March and its April output is expected to be 78 percent down from normal or around 3,000 units. Sales fell by 10 percent in the first quarter.