HANOI (Reuters). Vietnam’s apparel trades are set to rise 7.4% this year, to $43.5 billion. The factories maintain production despite the rising number of coronavirus cases.

One of the most important manufacturers worldwide for brands such as Nike (NYSE:), Zara, and H&M, Vietnam has recently lifted most of its COVID-19 curbs, which last year disrupted production and hobbled global supply chains.

Truong Van cam, vice-chairman of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, stated in an interview that “the pandemic will not have as severe an impact on Vietnam’s garment and textile industries this year due to the high vaccine rate.”

On Tuesday, the number of coronavirus-related infections per day in this Southeast Asian nation reached an all-time high of 31800. However experts and businesses said that the likelihood of repeating last years lockdowns was lower because millions of workers were vaccinated. The Omicron variant appears to be more severe.

Cam stated that pandemic-related shut downs affected as many as 1.2 million workers in the garment industry last year. This is 65% of its workforce. Cam said nearly all of them are now back at work.

He said that the textile and garment industry was able to limit disruptions in supply chains because of the flexible policies the country has taken to combat the pandemic, while also restoring economic activity, particularly from the fourth quarter 2021.

Vietnam has seen 2.57 million COVID-19-related deaths and approximately 39,000 cases. Official data shows that more than 76% of Vietnam’s 98 million population has had at least two vaccinations.

Tourism ministry proposes to fully open the country for foreign tourists beginning March 15, which is three months earlier than expected.