that have led to"uncountable" losses among local firms and foreign manufacturers.
"We had a 26-hour power cut. It cost us tens of thousands of dollars that day. It's not nice at all," said Vu Chi Hieu, director of Vietnam's KingBill XNK Joint Stock Company that produces aluminium parts in Bac Ninh province, which neighbours Hanoi. Susumu Yoshida from the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry told AFP that direct damage from one single power outage affecting five manufacturers at an industrial park was over US$190,000.The Southeast Asian nation has struggled with a series of heatwaves since early May when the mercury reached a record high, while rivers and reservoirs at hydroelectric power plants have dried up.
In the port city of Hai Phong, several associations representing Vietnam's logistics and shipping industries - which rely on a digital network to coordinate deliveries and need the power to operate loading equipment and keep trucks cool - filed complaints to state electricity company EVN.
"The power cut issue will be very serious for not only firms who have already invested in Vietnam, but also for us trying to call for investors to come to Vietnam," Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam, told AFP.