Garment Industry Representatives Learn About Reducing Energy Costs and Environment Protection 

Source: Vientiane Times

The Association of the Lao Garment Industry (ALGI) focused on reducing energy costs and protecting the environment during a technical course on energy management systems.

The training, aimed at implementing the firm’s existing plans for the garment sector, was held during June 20-22 at the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI). It was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Representatives of garment factories that are members of the ALGI participated in the three-day training course.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the course, the ALGI Vice President, Mr. Phimmasone Aminthalath, said the objective of this training is to assist the garment industry in developing an Energy Management System (EMS) for factories. This will help the factories to reduce energy costs and their impact on the environment.

“By using the energy management system, factories will be able to monitor their energy performance and improve energy efficiency on a regular basis,” he said.

Mr. Phimmasone emphasised that the ALGI is an organisation that creates jobs for the Lao people and helps generate income for the state budget through the export of garment products.

“Laos is one of the top destinations for foreign investment in this sector, and it is steadily increasing. However, the use of energy resources such as electricity is in demand and increases significantly and continuously,” he added.

He said that it is important and necessary for the garment sector to use energy management systems more effectively in order to reduce production costs and comply with the government’s policies and decrees for conserving energy.

In addition, customers of the garment sector are increasing and factories exporting goods must comply with environmental and labour policies, which call for efficient energy management.

“This was a good opportunity for the ALGI to cooperate with the Department of Energy Efficiency and Promotion, with assistance from the New Zealand-Laos Renewable Energy Facilitation Office, to organise this training course to allow the participants to learn and share their experiences with trainers, who have a lot of experience in energy management,” Mr. Phimmasone said.

The Manager of the New Zealand-Laos Renewable Energy Facility, Mr. Tristan Bellingham, said the facility has been assisting the Lao government to increase the beneficial use of renewable energy resources since 2018, after New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade committed US$ 8 million to the programme which is scheduled to continue until the end of 2024.

He said the program contributes to drawing up principles, regulations, and measures to effectively implement the policy, including the implementation of energy management systems and training of energy managers.

“Successful implementation of EMS by the private sector, including in the garment sector, will result in significant energy savings. This will reduce cost and improve the financial performance of specific garment factories,” Mr Bellingham said.