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Apparel exports have been showing signs of a rebound since the end of the third quarter last year

Recent figures by the Vietnam General Department of Customs show that as of February 15, Vietnam raked in $3.77 billion from textile and apparel exports, up $270 million compared to the same period in 2020.

Le Tien Truong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) and chairman of state-run group Vinatex noted that with the COVID-19 situation still intense and consumption declining in Vietnam’s major export markets like the US, EU, and Japan, many local firms have adopted smartly by shifting to producing items for common use with reasonable price tags.

“In fact, the textile and clothing sector has been trending in this direction from the second half of last year, helping to ensure continuous work for labourers with stable order placement. This helped the sector to reach an export turnover of $35.2 billion last year, which, albeit lower than in 2019, was much better than other major exporters like India and Bangladesh,” Truong said.

According to Vitas, in the brightest forecast the sector would recover consumption level as in 2019 in the third quarter of 2022, whereas based on the slow recovery scenario such consumption would reach by end of 2023.

Due to the pandemic, total aggregate demand for textile and apparel products shed more than 22 per cent globally, going from $740 billion to $600 billion. Competing countries all saw 15-20 per cent decreases. The reduction of Vietnam’s textile and apparel sector was far less than the world average.

A Vinatexsource certified that many firms in the sector, including Vinatex members, have signed orders until the end of April. Significantly, orders have been placed for several product lines such as knitwear and items for common use until July and August.

Hung Yen Garment Corporation (Hugaco) – a major member belonging to Vinatex group – posted a revenue of $15.7 million and after-tax profit of $1.07 million in January 2021, up 83 and 160 per cent compared to January 2020.

The company has signed export orders until the end of this year’s second quarter, ensuring stable work for its labourers in the upcoming months.

In 2020, COVID-19 has adversely impacted firms across the board, and Hugaco was not an exception. Its total revenue shed 5 per cent to VND2.6 trillion($113 million) and profit sank 20 per cent due to declining orders and price rates.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of Hugaco, said that after a challenging year like 2020, this year, Hugaco’s prime goal in the short term is to sign more export orders and expand its market to ensure employment for its labourers.

According to Vitas, in the best case scenario, the sector would recover 2019 consumption level by the third quarter of 2022, while under a slower recovery scenario it would take until the end of 2023.

Under the current market conditions, the sector has set forth the target of achieving $39 billion in export value this year, equivalent to the 2019 performance.

By Yen Thuy

Linh Thị Hồng in her class. — Photo nhandan.com.vn

VĨNH PHÚC — Linh Thị Hồng is admired by her teachers and peers alike at Ngọc Thanh C Elementary School in Vĩnh Phúc Province for her dedication to her studies and boundless optimism.

Despite being born prematurely with a weight of 1.5kg and without arms, Hồng has thrived thanks to her spirit and the hard work and tears of her parents Linh Văn Ba and Dương Thị Vui, who are Sán Dìu ethnic people living Lập Định Village, Ngọc Thanh Commune of Phúc Yên City.

Her weak body made Hồng suffer a lot early in life and she spent more time in the hospital than at home.

Hồng’s health has been relatively stable since 2015, after four colonoscopy-related surgeries.

Without hands, Hồng uses her legs for all daily activities.

Due to her disability, her parents and neighbours thought that Hồng would be unable to go to school but with the help of her family and teachers, the girl overcame adversity and lives life with her feet.

“Born in a family of three siblings, Hồng was born with a birth defect without arms up to her elbow,” said Ba, Hồng’s father.

“In my family, there was no one with any deformity. Hồng was our first daughter,” Ba recalled.

“We were so sad but we told ourselves that we would take care of and raise her anyway,” the father said.

“We gradually felt reassured and relieved when we watched our daughter grow up day by day,” he added.

Two years later, Hồng had two brothers.

Despite not having hands, Hồng always had optimism and learnt to do everything with her feet.

“She can do everything with her feet very nicely such as drawing, writing and sewing,” her father said.

When Hồng’s brother started to go to school, she taught herself using his textbooks.

Seeing her friends in the neighbourhood going to school, the little girl yearned to go with them to class.

“Seeing that the children around the neighbourhood all went to kindergarten, my girl also asked to go. For many days, she stood outside the window and looked at the class so I pitied my child and could not hold back the tears,” he said.

In 2007, when Hồng was six, her father registered her for a kindergarten.

Initially, she was refused due to her disability but her father was persistent.

After testing Hồng’s memory and ability to use her legs, the school decided to admit her.

“However, due to poor health, my wife and I wanted her to take a break from school for a while,” he said.

Many years later, with their child’s desire to learn, Ba and his wife knocked asked several schools to admit their daughter, but they all said she couldn’t learn if she couldn’t hold a pen.

Then, her hard journey to write with her feet started.

When her brother entered grade 1, Hồng sat next to him when he was reviewing lessons and doing homework.

That reminded Hồng’s parents that their daughter also wanted and needed to go to school.

Then, her parents bought her textbooks and books to teach herself.

Talking about Hồng’s application for school, Ba shared that it was a difficult time because there was no suitable school in the commune for her and the teachers said they were unable to teach children with disabilities like Hồng.

Undeterred, the family encouraged Hồng to study at home.

“She learned to read very quickly. But teaching her writing with her feet seemed to be an impossible mission for me because she does not have both hands,” Ba said.

Admiring Hồng’s strong efforts, a teacher in Phúc Yên Township started to teach Hồng to use her toes to grip the pen to write.

In the early days of writing, Hồng’s body curled up with each letter, sweat ran down her cheeks and her toes bled, but she refused to give up.

“Some days, her feet were so tired but no words were completed,” Hồng’s father recalled.

After thousands of hours of practice, she learned to write with her feet.

Finally, her efforts were off and she was admitted to the first grade of Ngọc Thanh C Primary School when she was nine.

Đỗ Thị Thanh Vân, the school’s principal, recalled: “At that time, we had to try many ways to get Hồng the best and most convenient seat to listen to and write lessons.”

The final option was that Hồng would bring her own mat to spread on the classroom floor in the space between the podium and the student desks. There, Hồng used her feet to write her first lessons.

For four years, Vân watched Hồng’s working in class from her office.

“The atmosphere in this classroom was a little different. During class time, anyone who finished their work came and helped Hồng,” Vân said.

“In the break time, other pupils sat on Hồng’s mat to play with her,” the principal said.

“Although she sits in a separate position, Hồng has never been isolated but is always in harmony with her innocent and naughty friends,” she said.

Every day, rain or shine, Hồng goes to school and she’s always motivated to learn, no matter how many times she stumbles.

“I watched TV and saw many young people who have similar circumstances as I can write very well with their feet,” Hồng said.

“The falls hurt, but I like to go to school so that my future will become an information technology engineer, I won’t stay at home,” Hồng said.

Last year, Hồng won the first prize of Good Handwriting of Vĩnh Phúc City and was one of 130 outstanding students honoured by the Ministry of Education and Training. — VNS

“The goal is so that we can get a card to the final round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia,” said the head coach.

Currently, after five matches, the Vietnamese team has 11 points, ranking first in Group G. It is likely that the Korean coach and his players are aiming to defeat Indonesia and Malaysia.

Of these two rivals, if Indonesia has been eliminated, Malaysia will no longer have the home advantage because the remaining matches of Group G will be held in one place, perhaps in the United Arab Emirates or Thailand.

According to the schedule announced earlier by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Vietnamese team will face Indonesia on June 7, Malaysia on June 11 and the United Arab Emirates on June 15.

“In 2021, the Vietnamese football team will play in some important tournaments and they are great challenges. Our success is in the past, but now the team must look to the future,” the coach said.

“This is a busy year, so we will have to allocate strength in major tournaments such as the World Cup qualifiers, the Asian U23 qualifiers, the SEA Games and AFF Cup,” he added.

The Korean coach admitted that he and his team would do their best to fulfill the goals.

Regarding the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, if the United Arab Emirates is chosen as the host, Vietnam and three other Southeast Asian teams in the group will have to play in extreme weather conditions. Their matches will take place in June, the peak of the summer heatwave in the Middle East. In 2020, there were days when the temperature there reached 43 degrees Celsius.

In another development, the Vietnamese team will not have to be isolated when they arrive at the place where the remaining three matches of the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup will be held. However, the players will be regularly tested for Covid-19 before and during the tournament.

Huy Phong