Boosting green, sustainable development

ABO/NDO – Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's textile and garment exports saw negative growth of 10.5% in 2020 and a decrease in revenue of over US$35 billion compared to US$39 billion in 2019.
Although the country’s textile and garment industry has implemented many flexible solutions to quickly adapt to the new normal situation in the world, difficulties are forecast to remain.
Businesses in the field need to focus on production andhave a strategy for sustainable development while increasing product value to enhance competitiveness in the market.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, total textile and garment export turnover reached nearly US$5.96 billion in the first two months of 2021while import revenue was over US$3.16 billion, bringing about a trade surplus of about US$2.8 billion. In particular, added value in the industry was quite high at55.4%, demonstrating signs of prosperity in the market.
Statistics from the textile and garment industry also showthat most businesses have orders to fulfil until June this year while items with large levels of consumption such as knitwear and casual wear have orders until September.

Vietnam's textile and garment industry aims at US$39 billion worth of export revenue. (Illustrative image/NDO).

This reflects the recovery of Vietnamese textiles and garments, especially as Vietnam is in a good position on aglobal supply chain restructured after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
However, due to the unpredictable development of the pandemic, if it is not controlled soon, enterprises will still face many risks. If the pandemic continues to rage acrossthe world, the supply chain will be interrupted, resulting in a decline in orders. On the contrary, if the pandemicoccurs at garment and textile factories, they must be isolated and will be unable to organise production to fulfil orders.
In addition to financial losses, in the long run, the position of Vietnamese textiles and garments in the global supply chain will also be shaky and may be supplanted by other competitors.
Therefore, disease prevention and control at business establishments needs to be implemented strictly. At the same time, enterprises should focus on promoting production, productivity and product quality in order to fulfil the target of reaching US$39 billion in export revenue this year.
In addition, businesses need to carefully researchinformation and markets to take advantage of new-generation free trade agreements such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and others.
It is time to define a development strategy for the 2021-2025 period to effectively implement set goals. The strategy should clearly define technological solutions with a vision for the spinning and dyeing industry in order to create a foundation to adapt to the fast-changing trends of the market after the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the same time, we also need to promote the green trend in the textile and garment industry through the use ofrenewable energy, efficient use of water resources, and sustainable development of factories.
It is also important to focus on in-depth development, increasing the production of high-value products, improve governance, and restructure businesses while boosting the supply chains of raw materials and building a connection strategy to bring Vietnam's textile and garment brands to the world market.
Furthermore, the Government should soon approve the sector development strategy until 2030, with a vision to 2035 and direct the formation of large textile and garment industrial zones with concentrated wastewater treatmentsystems to attract more investment into weaving and dyeing in order to meet the origin requirements of new-generation free trade agreements.
The government also needs to maintain macroeconomic stability, exchange rates, and interest rates whilecontinuing to reduce interest rates for long-term loans in order to create a “platform” for business development.

(Source: NDO)