In the event held by VDMA Textile Machinery Association, supported by the Việtnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), more than 600 business representatives and experts from Việtnam’s textile and support industries were introduced to Germany’s latest textile and apparel technologies in Hà Nội on July 5.

The VDMA Textile Machinery Association groups 130 companies manufacturing textile machines and equipment with a value of 3.1 billion EUR (US$3.46 billion) in 2015.

Trương Văn Cẩm, VITAS deputy chairman said that the event provided an opportunity for companies to make contact, exchange information and establish a mutually beneficial co-operation.

German machinery is of high quality although its cost is high. If Vietnamese textile enterprises want to develop modern technology, they should co-operate with high-technology providers to catch up with global quality and labour productivity, Cẩm added.

The deputy chairman also said that a considerable proportion of technologies in Việtnam’s textile and apparel industry needed to be replaced to improve quality, especially those supplying cloth for export garment-making.

According to Thomas Waldmann, managing director of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, due to the recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Việtnam is increasingly becoming a much preferred textile manufacturing location by companies worldwide.

TPP will reduce 18,000 tariffs. Việtnam is almost a sole supplier of textiles among the TPP member countries and an important supplier of textiles and garment to big consumer markets like the US.

Textile and garment exports from Việtnam to TPP markets are expected to grow by more than 10 percent this year.

Boris Abadjieff, director of Exhibition and Export Marketing under the VDMA said that Việtnam is a very important market in the area of textile, there is a need for Vietnamese textile industry to invest to modernize the technology and machinery. German companies and VMAD member companies are leading in this area, and that is the reason they are in Vietnam.

Phí Ngọc Trịnh, deputy director of the Hồ Gươm Garment JSC, said that the forum was a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses as the country was integrating further and deeper into global markets with many trade agreements, including TPP, as well as the Việtnam-EU free trade agreement.

VDMA Textile Machinery Association is holding a similar event in HCM City today