Le Van Dao, vice president of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VTGA) said at a meeting on October 1 that the textile and garment sector will be able to fulfill its set target of US$10.5 billion from exports this year.

Over the past nine months, exports to the big markets have recorded high growth. The EU market has rebounded after a decline while the US market has seen the most orders.

Dao said that garment businesses have orders for the end of this year and even for the beginning of next year. Exports to the Republic of Korea increased to a high of 80 percent, thanks to the impact of the Free Trade Agreement between the RoK and ASEAN.

Although Vietnam signed a similar agreement with Japan, exports to that market have not risen because of its strict requirements on the origin of products.

To fulfill the target of US$19- 19.5 billion from exports by 2015 and US$ 25 -27 billion by 2020, the sector is actively implementing big programmes, such as producing 1 billion metres of cotton for export, planting cotton to increase domestic materials and developing human resources to meet the increasing demands of the sector.

The sector is also promoting its trademark and has distribution networks in 63 provinces and cities as well as in Laos and Cambodia.