The paradoxes in the story of supply and demand of antibacterial cloth masks were just mentioned by many businesses at the afternoon meeting of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 17.

Mr. Ngo Khai Hoan – Deputy Director of the Department of Industry (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that by the end of March, domestic textile and garment enterprises had supplied about 57 million antibacterial fabric masks and their production capacity had

On the other hand, Chinese yarn and textile factories have resumed production, so fabric sources from this market have also begun to be imported to Vietnam.

However, in reality, the phenomenon of people having to line up for many hours, waiting to buy cloth masks, still occurs.

Explaining this, the Deputy Director of the Department of Industry said that the shortage is due to `lack of coordination between supply and demand, lack of supplier information and standard mask selling points`.

Textile workers produce antibacterial fabric masks in Ho Chi Minh City.

Therefore, leaders of the Department of Industry proposed two options.

`The Government and ministries use state and local budgets to supply masks and sell them to people. Production according to orders and planning will be much more convenient and people will prioritize buying antibacterial cloth masks.`

Regarding this proposal, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said he would consider reporting to the Government to have an ordering mechanism, but it could only be distributed to the elderly, people with underlying health conditions, and poor and difficult households.

Mr. Truong Van Cam – Vice President of the Textile and Apparel Association also said that there is a need for a focal agency to place orders for businesses and connect production and consumption, so that providing masks to the entire population `is nothing to worry about.`

As for manufacturing businesses, they are committed to providing enough cloth masks during the epidemic season.

According to Mr. Dao Van Phuong – General Director of Nam Dinh Silk Weaving Joint Stock Company, after 2 weeks, this unit will supply 3 million antibacterial cloth masks and can increase to 10 million.

On the other hand, in addition to producing masks, textile enterprises also have garment processing orders with partners.