Workers at a textile company in the northern province of Bac Ninh.(Photo: VNA) The decision, according to economists and policymakers, was anecessity to unshackle trade and industries after a prolonged period of time inwhich hundreds of factories were forced to close down or reduce productioncapacity in compliance with strong social distancing rules.
The reopening, which was made possible with a nationwidevaccination programme, has allowed the supply chain to come back, giving amuch-needed boost to industries and trade as well as to the country's exportsector.
Than Duc Viet, General Director of May 10, one of the country'slargest textile companies, said strong social distancing measures during thepandemic significantly disrupted the company's operation and threatened itsability to maintain production at times.
He said the worst part of it was not knowing when his factory'sdoors could be closed.
"Our approach during the pandemic was to move as much of ouroperations as possible online while staying flexible to deliver on our promiseswith international customers," he said.
He said earlier experience in fighting the spread of the COVID-19virus allowed the company to adapt quickly and effectively to the situation.
Nguyen Thanh Son, president of Hoa Tho Textile Group's workerunion, said it was largely thanks to workers' commitment and discipline thegroup was able to resume production quickly. Hoa Tho Textile reported a netincome of over 5 billion VND in 2022.
"While our industry has been struggling with fewer orderscompared to the same period last year. We remain confident we won't have to layoff any of our 12,000-strong workforce," he said.
Vietnam's textile remained a key pillar of the economy with thelargest number of workers. The sector's contribution to export has jumped from 1.96billion USD in 2001 to 40.4 billion USD in 2021 or 12% of the country's entireexport.
The sector has set a target this year to bring that figure to 44billion USD, an 8% increase from the previous year.
Cao Huu Hieu, General Director of Vinatex, said by September 2022,the group recorded revenue of 1.18 trillion VND, 24% higher than its quarterlytarget. However, unfavourable factors have since hit the sector hard.
"By the end of 2022, we were hit especially hard by lowerdemand and plummeting sales," he said.
He added the situation will likely remain grim in the foreseeablefuture until purchasing power in large consumer markets such as the US, the EUand China recover.
Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Nguyen Hong Dien said Vietnam'sexport sector managed to have a successful year, despite numerous difficultiesand setbacks, largely caused by international geo-political events.
The country's import-export revenue last year was reported at 732billion USD, maintaining a trade surplus (11.2 billion USD in 2022) for 17consecutive years. It has put the Southeast Asia economy among some of the mostrobust economies in the world.
2022 was also the year Vietnam recorded 39 commodities with exportvalues exceeding the 1 billion USD mark, four more compared to 2021. Among these,10 commodities broke the 10 billion USD mark.
There has been also improvement in the composition with industrialand processing continuing to lead the chart, accounting for over 86% of thecountry's total export at 294.5 billion USD in value, a 13.3% year-on-yearincrease.
Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of MoIT's Agency for Foreign Trade,said Vietnamese businesses' efforts to improve their standing in the globalsupply chain and seek out new markets have paid off. Hai said the key factorthat allowed the country to economically recover since the pandemic was itssuccessful attempt to fight the pandemic.
In addition, a number of key trade agreements including theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),the European Union–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the UK-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (UKVFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) have put the country in a prime position to boost the export of many ofits products. Export to the above-mentioned markets recorded a 20 % yearlyincrease last year./.
VNA
