Vietnam has lost textile and garment orders to Bangladesh and may be stripped of the position of the second largest exporter of apparel products in the world by the South Asian country due to its tardiness in green transition.

Bangladesh has been quicker in greening supply chains. Its requirements to green supply chains have been made clear and improved its exporters’ competitiveness and opportunities to secure orders, Nguyen Minh Duy, general secretary of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, said at the “Green Linkage – Green Export” seminar held on Thursday.

The seminar is part of the ongoing Ho Chi Minh Export Forum and Trade Fair 2023 held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

Bangladesh has up to 153 apparel factories meeting Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) standards as of this year and 500 others have filed for the LEED certification.

The certification is based on a set of performance criteria that evaluate the environmental performance of a building in six categories: materials and resources, indoor environment quality, energy and atmosphere, water efficiency, sustainable sites, and innovation in design.

Economic expert Vo Tri Thanh said “green” and “digital” are the two most important factors of enterprises which wish to satisfy the global market’s requirements.

Greening their production will help protect their competitiveness, maintain production, and sell products to other markets.

The global textile and garment sector has required that fabric scraps or defective products must be recycled instead of being destroyed.

In reality, enterprises meeting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards have more orders and better orders, Thanh said.

He affirmed that efforts from both enterprises and the state are needed.

Vietnam annually needs US$14-15 billion to fulfill green commitments, heading towards the net-zero emissions commitment by 2050.

Vietnamese small and medium enterprises face many obstacles to export their products to the international market amid the rising protection in importing markets. Photo: N.Binh / Tuoi Tre

Vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan said the city pursues green export and develops industries meeting international circular economy standards.

This is one of the 12 key enterprise development and innovation programs in the 2020-25 period. The city is drawing up some policies to boost the green growth.

The world is developing new trends. If enterprises do not innovate to keep pace with these trends, they will lag behind and be weeded out, Hoan added.

Green commitments will pave the way for the export of enterprises’ products and facilitate them to enjoy tariff incentives. The process also proves that Vietnam is responsible for green, sustainable and eco-friendly production, the municipal vice chairman noted.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!