The Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and TAL Group have decided to introduce the application of HIGG index in the textile and garment industry.

The decision was taken at a meeting held in Ha Noi on Thursday. The aim of introducing the index is to build a sustainable brand for Vietnamese textiles.

HIGG is an online self-assessment tool that standardises measures for environmental and social impacts in the textile, footwear and fashion industries.

It also serves as a standard sustainable report tool used by more than 8,000 manufacturers and 150 brands globally.

A preliminary survey of more than 200 enterprises in Viet Nam reveals that nearly 70 per cent of the businesses are familiar with the HIGG index, but only 20.8 per cent of them have tried its application.

The percentage of Vietnamese enterprises investing their money in HIGG is still low due to its high cost.

At the meeting with textile companies, SAC CEO Jason Kibbey talked about the application of the HIGG index in practice to gain the trust of customers, from developing orders and increasing profits to fulfilling social responsibility.

Kibbey said SAC had made sustainable production with a supply chain of more than 100 members, accounting for more than one-third of the global textile industry. He added that HIGG was a necessary benchmark as enterprises buying raw materials for production and selling products to the United States and EU countries needed the index. — VNS