Germany supports Vietnam’s garment industry in green transformation

Five pilot projects on green technology for Vietnamese textile and garment exporters went on show at the ‘For a Sustainable Garment and Textile Industry in Vietnam’ show held in Hanoi on June 17.

The event is part of the German government-supported ‘Green Tech Landing Pad’ initiative, jointly implemented by GIZ and the National Innovation Center (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The new technologies being piloted include IoTeamVN's energy management solution, Enedig Kft's cloud-based labour cost calculation solution timeSSD®, Hoang Ha's waste heat recovery solution, ECOSOI's pineapple fabrics and fibres, and BlockTexx's polyester and cellulose recycling solution.

These innovations, evaluated favourably by domestic partners such as VINATEX, Faslink, Thinh Phuc, and Kyungbang, demonstrate significant potential for application and scale-ups.

The pilot projects have demonstrated the industry’s potential in transitioning to sustainable production and meeting European market standards.

The textile and garment sector makes an average contribution of 30-50 billion USD to Vietnam’s GDP and is poised for significant growth, especially with free trade agreements like the one with the EU (EVFTA).

Nonetheless, textile and garment enterprises face technical challenges in their transition to green and sustainable practices to comply with EU standards and seize growth opportunities.

The Green Tech Landing Pad represents a strategic response to those challenges. It identifies, connects, and facilitates the adoption of green technologies among Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises to ensure compliance with European sustainability standards.

Vu Quoc Huy, Director of the National Innovation Centre, said: “The Green Tech Landing Pad initiative plays a crucial role in the context of the environmental and sustainability challenges that Vietnam’s textile and garment industry is facing.

"Through this initiative, we equip textile and garment enterprises with cutting-edge and eco-friendly technologies, solutions, and production models. This not only enhances competitiveness but also drives Vietnam's garment and textile industry’s trajectory towards sustainability.”

Tarek Hassan, head of the Digital Transformation Centre Vietnam, a project funded by GIZ noted that Vietnam's textile and garment industry would face many difficulties and challenges in green transformation such as high upfront costs, Return on Investment (ROI) uncertainty, lack of a skilled workforce, infrastructure limitations, integration of new technologies and environmental issues.

Dennis Quennet, Director of Sustainable Economic Development at GIZ in Vietnam, said: "German-Vietnamese cooperation goes beyond today. On behalf of the German government, GIZ will continue to support the digital and green transformation of Vietnam’s economy by working with the public and private sectors in different industries. Together, we will enhance the roles of start-ups and SMEs in Vietnam’s economy to improve competitiveness and create innovation, opportunities, and jobs.”

The Green Tech Landing Pad initiative has successfully connected nine new technological solutions with seven textile and garment export companies to address common technical issues, including sludge treatment, heat recovery, fabric recycling, energy optimisation, labour management, and new sustainable materials./.