FWF’s Duong Thi Viet Anh met with the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development, Sigrid Kaag, during her recent visit to Vietnam. They discussed how FWF works to improve conditions in one of the world’s largest garment-sourcing countries.
Minister Kaag met with different local NGOs to discuss corporate social responsibility. FWF’s country representative in Vietnam, Duong Thi Viet Anh, was present to share information about FWF’s work in Vietnam and the responsibilities of international companies and Vietnamese suppliers to comply with human rights standards.
FWF believes that the Dutch government can play an important role in promoting the implementation of the EU-VN FTA agreement and also encouraging civil society organisations to participate.
Vietnam
In recent years, Vietnam has become a major player in the global textile industry, particularly for the outdoor, sports and shoes sector. With a workforce of more than 2 million in the textiles industry, textiles was Vietnam’s largest export sector in 2017.
FWF has a local audit team in Ho Chi Minh City with an additional worker interviewer and complaints handler in Hanoi. FWF works with the employers association VCCI, the Vietnam Ministry of Labour and a number of grassroots labour NGOs in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phuong. FWF’s activities in Vietnam further focus on the implementation of the Workplace Education Programme, to raise awareness on labour rights and grievance mechanisms.