The Vietnamese government is openly asking Korean companies operating in the country to provide financial support for its purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.

According to business officials, the Vietnam government recently announced its plans to raise a vaccine purchase fund with support from private companies, saying it would raise about $1.1 billion to purchase 150 million doses.

Most Korean companies in Vietnam know about the host government’s difficulties in its fight against Covid-19 but find it hard to understand the latter’s outright demand for a financial contribution when the businesses suffer from serious sales drop amid the Covid-19 pandemic, they said.

The Vietnamese government has not only requested Korean companies to participate in its vaccine fund but sent a text message to mobile phone subscribers, asking them to contribute to the fundraising with detailed information such as the account numbers to send money, according to the Yonhap News Agency, the state-run wire service.

For instance, a Korean company operating in Ho Chi Minh City recently received a request from a local government official to donate to the vaccine fund.

"We asked if our staff would get the vaccine if we contribute money, but the officials replied they couldn't guarantee it," a company official was quoted as saying. "Receiving such a request when we are experiencing difficulties due to revenue drop to the coronavirus is very depressing."

A businessman working the local offshoot of a Korean conglomerate also expressed displeasure.

"We did not expect the current situation when we came to Vietnam upon the latter’s guarantee of providing a good business environment," the official said. "We may have no other choices but to pay the money, now knowing what kind of disadvantage we may face if we don't."

Korean public corporations with local presence are complaining about similar problems, according to Yonhap.

"Although we explained that the Korean government has not allocated any financial resources regarding the matter, Vietnamese officials repeatedly demanded support, saying we could get support from private companies operating in the country,” an official said. "We will likely have to do what they told us to do."

Vietnam, which has prided itself on successfully containing the Covid-19 since the pandemic began, has recently seen a surge as more than half of the country's cases occurred in the past two weeks.

As of Friday, the country has confirmed a total of 7,870 cases, including 49 deaths. Despite the low number of cases compared to its neighboring countries, the nation has confirmed 3,150 cases from May 5 to June 1.

On Monday, the country has banned large gatherings across Ho Chi Minh City and stressed that it plans to test its nine million inhabitants.

According to business sources, the Vietnamese government has raised a considerable sum of financial resources for the vaccination fund with the help of Vietnamese businesses and public corporations.

However, foreign companies, including Korean businesses, have not officially taken part in the fund’s creation.