If the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is realised soon, Vietnam’s textile-garment exports to the US could hit around 10 billion USD this year, with the number set to double by 2020.

Vietnam earned 8.6 billion USD from shipping such products to the US market in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS).

During the period, the sector’s export value (excluding 600 million USD earned from apparel material) reached nearly 20 billion USD, up around 17 percent against 2012, with yarn fibre and clothing shipments estimated at 2.13 billion USD and 17.89 billion USD respectively.

Textile-garment exports currently account for over one third of the country’s total export to the US (valued at 25 billion USD).

The industry has increased its market share in the US, securing second place with about 9 percent.

The EU and the RoK have been two other major export markets for the sector, with 17 percent of Vietnamese textile and garment exports to the EU and about 7 percent to the RoK.

The Vietnam Garment and Textile Corporation (Vinatex), a leading player, has been pouring huge sum into developing the supply chain, aiming at utilising 70 percent of domestic materials for apparel production and export during this year, said its Deputy General Director Le Tien Truong.

The group needs around 5 trillion VND (235 million USD) in loan to expand and reform technology to develop the local textile-garment industry when joining the TPP, he added.-VNA