Rosy outlook for Vietnam’s garment trade

2018 looks promising for Vietnam’s garment-textile industry, with exports forecasted to fetch US$33.5- US$34 billion, up 10% year-on-year.

2018 looks promising for Vietnam’s garment-textile industry. (Credit: VNA)
2018 looks promising for Vietnam’s garment-textile industry. (Credit: VNA)

Chairman of Hung Yen Garment Company (HUGACO) Nguyen Xuan Duong said he believes the achievements recorded in 2017, thorough preparations of businesses, and the Government’s plan on support industry development will support the industry to achieve robust growth.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VTAA), at the beginning of 2017, the sector overcome a range of challenges caused by the pending Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the decreasing global demand for apparels.

The industry reversed that trend from the second quarter of the year and ultimately raked in an export turnover of US$31 billion, representing a rise of 10.23% from 2016.

In the year, Vietnam’s garment-textile exports to major markets like the US, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia increased by 7.2%, 9.23%, 6.1%, 11.8% and 56%, respectively.

The growth of the Vietnamese garment-textile sector is rated the highest when compared with that of other garment-textile exporters like China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Indonesia.

Truong Van Cam, VTAA Vice Chairman, noted that the domestic garment enterprises will have competition with their rivals from Myanmar, Cambodia and Bangladesh in terms of insurance, land, tax, transportation and customs procedure costs.

Le Tien Truong, General Director of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), suggested local garment-textile businesses focus on technological applications, investment attraction and the building of connectivity chains of the VTTA.

Apart from pouring more investments into design, original design manufacturing (ODM) should be increased by 10% in order to raise the added values of products.