Posted on November, 23 2018

Vietnam’s textile and garment industry has long been a crucial sector to the Vietnamese economy. The sector employs more than 3 million labourers and has over 7,000 factories across the country. As a sector depends significantly on water resources for its production and also generates waste water as by product, it is important for stakeholders in the sector to better understand the water risks they are exposed to, impacts they are creating and possible solutions to address these challenges. In partnership with Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the report “Textile and Garment Sector in Vietnam: Water Risks and Solutions” is launched on 28 November 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City. The report zooms into the textile and garment sector and assess all relevant water risks. Based on the results of the assessment, the report outlines 12 recommendations for mitigation these risks through actions to be undertaken by Vietnamese textile industry stakeholders, including factories, other NGOs, brands, government entities and other enabling organisations such as development agencies, donors, and investors.
 
12 Recommendations from the report:
 
Short-term:
1. Establish a multi-sector “Lancang-Mekong River Stewardship Collective”  to provide input and engage with the six-country Lancang-Mekong Cooperation on river-related risks and opportunities within the investment and development context of the Belt and Road Initiative;
2. Establish a textile sector water partnership to coordinate the sector’s cooperation with the proposed multi-sector collective;
3. Engage textile and garment factories in adopting water saving practices and use efficient management activities;
4. Conduct capacity building activities to equip relevant stakeholders in the textile and garment industry with necessary knowledge on how to adopt water saving practices;
5. Engage textile and garment factories in adopting best practices in chemical and waste water management to improve surface water quality;
6. Introduce water saving and efficient methods to Industry Parks (IP) to promote collective best-practice water saving and wastewater management actions at the IP level;
7. Support the Vietnamese Government in developing a smart water use program for the textile and garment sector to promote water efficient practices and technology countrywide;

Medium-term:
8. Publish documents on water use efficiency to share and promote examples of good practices in the textile industry’s water use;
9. Promote national reporting against sector-based standards to demonstrate and promote Textiles’ good performance and reputation in managing wastewater and water quality;
10. Promote knowledge management in water governance to facilitate sector players’ better understanding of policies and standards relevant to water use

Long-term:
11. Develop a smart water use supporting fund to aid and reward textile and garment factories adopting water efficient and clean technology; and
12. Support the Vietnamese Government in developing water governance policy consistent with international standards.