Textile export has ranked second and made up 15 percent of total national export turnover, however Vietnam textile and garment industry has heavily relied on importing raw materials, hindering the industry to develop in a sustainable manner, said the Vietnam Business Forum Magazine (VBF).

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the Vietnam textile supply chain is currently focusing heavily on exports (making up 86 percent of production capacity), and greatly depending on imported fabric sources (accounting for 86 percent of total demand).

In addition, bottlenecks still happen in the process of knitting and dyeing in Vietnam’s textile supply chain.

These have prevented the industry from sustainable development. To increase profits and competitiveness, and reduce imports of raw material, the industry needs to advance supporting industries.

In particular, Vietnam’s textile industry should promote supporting industries and seek for more market share.

In the supporting industry development strategy, the textile industry has launched a number of specific programmes. Accordingly, the industry will call for investment in the production of polyester fibre - an important factor contributing to the sustainability of the textile industry. Besides, the industry has also required a 580 hectare land for plant construction to have 11.6 million spindles by the time of 2025. Moreover, it needs to invest in large-scale industrial parks, following by supporting material development for export garment.

More specially, the industry will focus on stimulating the fashion design industry. The domestic market with more than 90 million people is the good reason for the development of this industry.

With the strategic direction mentioned above, VITAS said that the Government should supplement and adjust the textile industry development plan in the period 2015-2025 with the orientation to 2035; call for investment in the fabric manufacturing sector, including weaving, and dyeing. It also needs to have financial resources to support investment in waste water treatment for the industry.

Furthermore, the Government should also enhance the quality of human resources; issue guidelines and policies for attracting advanced technologies, encouraging the transfer and creating a playground for Vietnamese enterprises to grow.

VITAS also recommended that local enterprises should boost exports of traditional weaving products, strengthen links in the domestic supply chain, increase design and trade capability. In particular, the industry needs to find additional sources of raw materials from others countries to gradually replace Chinese ones, reducing the dependence on China.-VNA