Young people dedicated to green apparel industry, wildlife protection in Vietnam
When he was 16, Quach Kien Lan left Vietnam for New Zealand to study economics at Massey University. The 39-year-old believed he chose a long life in the kiwi fruit country, one of the world’s most peaceful nations. However, 10 years after he earned his bachelor’s degree and tried multiple different jobs abroad from a marketing employee, seller, and chef to a bartender, he finally decided to return to Vietnam to produce natural fabric. It seemed unbelievable, but the overseas Vietnamese student always nurtured a desire to green Vietnam’s textile and garment industry, which is one of the country’s spearhead sectors, but has caused many scandals over negative impacts on the environment. Lan is teaming up with Dr. Pham Thi Hong Phuong, head of the faculty of medical engineering at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, and some partners to implement an initiative to produce fabric from banana fiber. Over the past year, the team has created various machines to extract banana f...