Hanoi(VNA) – A surgein demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) from the manufacturing sectorin Vietnam due to COVID-19 pandemic, along with the orders that flowed in fromaround the world helped to buoy the country’s important garment-making industrywith many manufacturers rejigging their facilities to produce PPE, said an article on the forbes.com website.

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

The Vietnamesegovernment 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’smanufacturers exported almost 1.2 billion masks through to December 2020 toNorth 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 thedecision to switch in early 2020, and sees an ongoing demand for hisproduct.       

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

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

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