TAIWAN’S Pou Chen Corp., the world’s largest manufacturer of branded sports footwear, is facing a labor shortage and manufacturing disruption in Vietnam, threatening its plan to return to full operation this month. Production at its Pouyuen Vietnam factories in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Dong Nai, hotspots of the country’s coronavirus crisis, has been scaled down since July. Pou Chen’s clients include Nike Inc. and Adidas AG. “About 6 percent of the total employees have quit,” Lu Chiyuan, director of Pouyuen Vietnam, said in a statement, which followed a meeting between the company and Ho Chi Minh City authorities. “We are facing labor shortages, delays in large orders, and production and exports activities disruption,” Lu said. Vietnam until the middle of this year had one of the world’s best coronavirus containment records, with limited disruption to its crucial manufacturing sector. However, that changed after May, when an outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City intensified and spread to surrounding manufacturing provinces. The mass exodus of tens of thousands of workers from industrial hubs in October when COVID-19 curbs were lifted has complicated Vietnam’s efforts to get its key manufacturing sector back on track. Vietnam has recorded nearly 985,000 infections in total and 22,700 deaths, with about 41 percent of the country’s population vaccinated. (SD-Agencies) | 