Vietnam’s textiles and garment sector is likely to be affected by the pandemic-induced situation getting more convoluted. The situation in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), in particular, will drag the sector down in the remaining months of the year, admit industry insiders. The government has been urged to prioritise vaccination for garment and textile workers.
Most garment and textile firms are willing to cover all vaccination costs.Vietnam's textiles and garment sector is likely to be affected by the pandemic-induced situation getting more convoluted. The situation in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), in particular, will drag the sector down in the remaining months of the year, admit industry insiders. The government has been urged to prioritise vaccination for garment and textile workers.#
The infection has already hit some HCMC industrial parks, so if staff of garment and textile firms get infected, work would stop and fulfillment of orders would slow down, Pham Xuan Hong, head of HCMC Association of Garment, Textile, Embroidery and Knitting (AGTEK), told a local newspaper.
The labour-intensive sector needs concentration of workers in certain places inside factories, and therefore, the risk of COVID-19 breaking out there is quite high, said Le Tien Truong, chairman of Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex). The production chain is likely to be broken amid the outbreak, he said.
In the first three waves of the pandemic, no Vinatex affiliates reported any infection. In the ongoing fourth wave, some enterprises in the northern province of Bac Ninh and the central city of Da Nang have reported infected workers.
"This is the first time in 18 months of COVID outbreaks that workers in Vinatex affiliates have been infected with the disease, forcing them stop production and face considerable losses," the Vinatex chairman said.
If production comes to a halt due to the pandemic, goods delivery will be delayed, causing losses for producers and exporters, he said.
Affected enterprises will have to shift to transporting goods by air, instead of by sea to ensure timely shipment. This would make the shipment prohibitively expensive, Truong added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)