Vietnam set garment and textile export turnover target at US$28 billion for 2015

Textile and garment is Vietnam’s most important export sector. In 2014, textile and garment export has crossed US$24 billion, a year on year increase of 19 percent seen. Of garment products was up 17 percent to US$21 billion and textile exports brought over US$3 billion over the same period last year.

This shows that Vietnam’s textile and garment are not only competition but also a big attraction in the international market. Taking this into consideration, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association has set export turnover target at US$28-28.5 billion for 2015.

To achieve the set target, Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group said that they would invest about VND9 trillion (US$421.15 million) in building up a material production zone in the 2015-2016 period, aiming to reduce dependence on imports.

China is the biggest supplier of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry. Imports in the sector during the first ten months of 2014 increased 23.5 percent year-on-year to $5.6 billion. Vietnam depends too much on China due to its weak supporting industries.

The Vietnam National Textile and Garment group is expected to be able to supply their businesses with 55 percent of cloth types by 2017.

Export value to the United States market was estimated at US$9.8 billion, up 12.6 percent against 2013 however, it is forecast to be topped US$11 billion this year.

The export value to the EU went up 17 percent, reaching US$3.4 billion and is expected to hit US$4 billion this year.

Vietnam’s textile and garment exports showed good growth in major international market last year. The good performance is attributed to the government’s efforts in negotiating free trade agreements (FTA). Although the FTAs are yet not implemented but it has attracted international buyers as they have started moving their orders from other countries to Vietnam.