The 2nd PPP meeting - Race to the Top

The Race to the Top in Vietnam (“RttT”) is a multi-stakeholder program, co-developed by Public and Private Partners, chaired by Sustainable Apparel Coalition (hereinafter: “SAC”) is a collaboration between Gap, Levi’s, Marks & Spencer, SAC, IFC, SAITEX, 3GF, Better Work, PUMA (as a Technical Advisor), and IDH. The goal of the RttT is to catalyse sustainable growth in the Apparel and Footwear sector in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. The RttT is a voluntary program to support the production and trade of responsibly produced apparel and footwear products. The RttT is composed by 4 taskforces.

The purpose of this PPP Cooperation Agreement is to describe the commitments and alignment of Parties to support the development of Vietnamese Apparel and Footwear sector in an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner and within the framework of the RttT Initiative. At the same time, the PPP Cooperation Agreement emphasized the roles and responsibilities of private sector as well as Apparel and Footwear Sector in Vietnam, in environment protection and the nationwide sustainable development. By cooperating within this PPP Cooperation Agreement the overlap of the efforts can be reduced and the synergies among the Parties can be increased.

Attending the meeting were the representatives of MOIT, Mrs Truong Thi Thu Ha - Deputy Director of Department of Industry, Mr. Huynh Tien Dung – Country Director of IDH Vietnam and other representatives from MOLISA, MONRE, VITAS and LEFASO.

 During the meeting, representatives of IDH Vietnam presented the progress of the program "RttT", visited and evaluated some factories through the GAP brand. It was noted that enterprises had positive changes after evaluation.

Representatives from MOIT, Mrs. Truong Thi Thu Ha also shared her expectation that the project activities should be implemented sooner and more progressive than previous ones. IDH Vietnam also reported that it would pay 50% of the funds for the implementation of the programs and the remaining 50% would be contributed by the project partners. However, it is also necessary to acknowledge the fact that enterprises are contributing by arranging for staff, workers to  involve in activities, transportation costs and preparing lunch for consultants, IDH and brand. This should be maintained to ensure the plant's commitment.

Mrs. Hoang Ngoc Anh - Deputy Secretary General of VITAS shared about the plan of cooperation and support to the “RttT” of the Association. VITAS is preparing for 2018 activity with IDH. Mrs. Anh also shared that cooperation with IDH in the RttT program is also an important direction and proposed strengthening the cooperation with other related projects. In September, IDH participated and presented at the VLEEP workshop organized by VITAS, in November VITAS joined in the conference of energy and environment optimization held by IDH in HCMC, showing that this partnership is very meaningful to both parties.

At the end of the meeting, IDH and participants discussed the activities in the coming time and will meet regularly twice a year to report progress and results of implementation of the program.