Greening garment and textile industry for sustainable development

Viet Nam’s garment and textile industry is actively applying the Industry 4.0 technologies and implementing measures to implement the programs set by the Government for the garment and textile sector

The sector accounts for 15% of the country’s total export value and posts a stable annual growth rate of 12%.

With more than 7,000 factories nationwide and employing nearly 3 million people, the industry is not only economically important but also socially significant to Viet Nam.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), Vu Duc Giang, said that Viet Nam has committed to fully implementing 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the global 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted at the COP21 in 2015. Therefore, the garment andtextile industry will not be an exception in the implementation of these SDGs.

“Viet Nam’s garment & textile industry strives to reach an export turnover of US$40 billion in 2019, while committing to complying with the cooperation relationship associating sustainable development in the deployment of the garment & textile industry greening and water saving program,” he stated.

Currently, more than 50% of power plants in Viet Nam are using coal. As the Vietnamese Government is committed to reducing 8% of gas emissions that are polluting the environment, green development is the only solution for businesses to alleviateenergy security pressure and develop sustainably. 

In the opposite direction, if industrial production businesses jointly require the use of clean energy, this will create certain impacts in forcing energy suppliers to produce clean energy.

In addition, Viet Nam’s garment and textile industry is actively applying the Industry 4.0 technologies and implementing measures to implement the programs set by the Government for the garment and textile sector, including the implementation of the signed free trade agreements (FTAs).

The green transformation in the field of garment and textile with the participation of hundreds of apparel brands in the world has put Viet Nam’s garment and textile industry in the face of new challenges. In order to retain the export turnover growth momentum, Vietnamese enterprises must not only meet the origin and material requirements but must also prove their social responsibility for public health.

By Vien Nhu