Textiles and garments second largest forex earner for Vietnam

Vietnam is fast emerging as a major supplier of textiles and garment in global market and the industry has become the second largest foreign exchange earner for the country.

In the first four years of 2017, export value of textiles and garments was estimated at US$8.6 billion, up 15.7% year on year. The country’s total exports in the four months topped US$64.4 billion, up 23% from year ago, while imports stood at US$61.3 billion, reported Agency.

For many US brands source one-third of their goods from Vietnam, a third from China, and the rest is from other countries. This implies that Vietnam is competing with China, although most of the investment in textiles are Chinese.

The export textiles and garments from Vietnam to Japan reached US$855.44 million, 20% higher than the same period last year, accounting for 13.3% of the total export value. Similarly, exports to Republic of Korea stood at US$798.6 million and US$268.95 million to China, an increase of 15% and 41%, respectively, against the same period in 2017.

During the same period, exports to the European Union rose by 12% to US$806.23 million, while that to ASEAN market increased 26% to US$228.36 million.

It has set a target of US$35 billion for textiles and garment export this year. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association has asked enterprises to fully exploit the working capacity of their workers as well as restructure their management practices to improve labour productivity.

It urged enterprises to focus on developing other markets such as ASEAN, the Eurasian Economic Union, India and Latin American countries, including improving distribution in the domestic market.

Vietnam has trade relations with over 200 countries and territories around the world, and is gradually moving import-export markets from Asia to Europe and America. Its foreign trade hit a record US$400 billion in 2017, representing a fourfold increase from its first-ever US$100 billion mark in 2007, the year when it joined the World Trade Organization.