Rosy outlook for Vietnam’s garment trade
2018 is looking rosy for Vietnam’s garment-textile industry, with exports forecasted to fetch US$33.5- US$34 billion, up 10% year-on-year.
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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 as compared with that of other garment-textile exporters like China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Indonesia.
Duong said garment firms are expected to get more orders in 2018 but suffer pressures caused by dropping garment prices in many markets.
Truong Van Cam, VTAA Vice Chairman, noted that the domestic garment enterprises will have compete 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 to 10 percent in order to raise added values of products.
To achieve the two-digit growth target in 2018, VTAA suggested businesses adapt to market changes, expand the domestic market and diversify products, while forming production chains.
