Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

The article cited statistics from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade showing that there are more than 6,000 garment factories and textile mills in the country, and the sector employed some 3 million workers in 2020.

The Vietnamese government had initially restricted the export of goods, such as face masks, to ensure there was an adequate domestic supply to help combat the virus. But once the restrictions were lifted in March of last year, Vietnam’s manufacturers exported almost 1.2 billion masks through to December 2020 to North America, Europe and around Asia, it noted.

The article mentioned as an example Vietnam Goods and Exports (VGE) which turned to making cloth face masks.

It quoted VGE founder Anh Tran as saying that he made the decision to switch in early 2020, and sees an ongoing demand for his product.      

“Despite vaccines now rolling out, the [Centers for Disease Control] is still recommending people to wear masks because it is a slow rollout, and there are still many at-risk people you can affect or be affected by,” he said.

“If vaccines are effective, you will probably see a drop-off in the wearing of masks near the end of 2021, but from now until then, it is still a massive industry that just exploded overnight.”

 “Vietnam has definitely become a shining star in the global PPE trade in 2020 because prior to that most PPE was manufactured in China or the United States,” he added./.

BTA