Going green is life-or-death demand for Vietnam’s clothing sector: industry association

Rapidly shifting to green production to ensure green exports and achieve sustainable development is extremely important for Vietnam’s apparel sector as the whole world is demanding sustainability from the industry, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said on Friday.

Greening textile and garment production chains is a global trend compulsory for all businesses to achieve sustainability, VITAS vice general secretary Nguyen Tuyet Mai said at the Vietnam Sustainable Textile Day 2023.

International experts and representatives of Vietnamese apparel firms joined the Friday event held in Ho Chi Minh City by VITAS to discuss proper measures for green transition in Vietnam, a major exporter of fabric and clothing.

Development strategies for the domestic apparel and shoes sectors until 2030 with a vision to 2035 was approved by the government in late December, with a goal of reaching sustainability by 2035, VITAS general secretary Truong Van Cam told the event.

Lisa Ramershoven, an advisor for sustainability in textile supply chains at the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), said the GIZ is promoting sustainability in the sector in Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and China so that production conditions are more socially and environmentally friendly.

Relevant stakeholders, including producers, business associations, ministries, labor unions, and international fashion brands, need to intensify their cooperation, she said.

Henk van Beers, social dialog specialist from CNV Public, a labor union representing civil servants and healthcare workers in the Netherlands, said the Vietnamese apparel sector needs to promote dialog between employees and employers.

“We must improve social dialog to encourage people to speak up about how they work, how to improve working conditions, what they expect and the like, or we should have questions like ‘What training do you need?’” said the Dutch expert.

“This will put in more energy, therefore your organization will positively change easier,” he noted.

Nguyen Hong Ha, director of Better Work in Vietnam, said at Vietnam Sustainable Textile Day 2023: "At present, international investors, including venture capital firms, are eager to channel investment into Vietnamese textile and garment firms as the whole sector is seeking to go green."

“Investors see that the Vietnamese industry is proactively advancing toward sustainability and they want to make more inroads into the process,” she explained.

Better Work is a partnership between the United Nations’ International Labor Organization and International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group member. The program brings diverse groups together - governments, global brands, factory owners, trade unions, and workers - to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive.

Facing challenges and stricter requirements from overseas markets where orders come from, many businesses in Vietnam have been making changes towards green manufacturing, including upgrading factories and using recycled fabric and green energy.

Spectre, a Danish maker of functional garments for outdoor sports brands, started operating its $17 million factory in the southern province of An Giang last September. As the 38,000 square-meter plant is partly fueled by solar energy, it can reduce 1,600 tons of emissions a year, according to the company. The other two Spectre plants are in the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Nam Dinh.

The Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) has invested in new technology to reduce 30% of wastewater discharged from the dying process and reuse 30% of treated wastewater. It also aims to use renewable energy for 10% of its power consumption, according to Vinatex.

Hanoi Textile & Garment JSC, or Hanosimex, and Korean company Hansae are co-implementing a recycled fabric production project in Vietnam. The partnership will produce yarn and fabric from recycled materials, and all of the products will be used to make garments for export.

Vietnam earned around $44 billion from textile and garment exports last year, up 8.8% from 2021, according to VITAS. The exported products are shipped to 66 countries and territories worldwide. For this year, the association expects the value to be $47-48 billion in a positive scenario, and $45-46 billion in a less positive scenario.