Domestic garment companies are very confident about their strong business performances in 2015 as their export activities were pretty good in the last months of 2014.

With less than a month before the end of 2014, a number of large garment companies have already come up with production and business plans for next year, reported Dau tu (Investment Review) newspaper.

Trade and Investment Joint Stock Company (TNG) aims to increase revenues to 1.8 trillion VND (84.9 million USD) and post-tax profits to 75 billion VND next year. It has so far this year achieved 1.4 trillion VND in revenue and 55-57 billion VND in post-tax profits.

Nguyen Van Thoi, TNG chairman, said this year, the garment industry experienced a boost in exports, and TNG has based its targets on this positive development.

TNG's key export markets include the United States with 47 percent of export value, followed by the European Union with 21 percent, Canada with 15 percent and Japan with 6.5 percent.

Nguyen Song Hai, General Director of Hanoi Textile and Garment Joint Stock Company (Hanosimex), said he believed his company would reach its production and business targets and predicted this year's revenues to reach 2.12 trillion VND, a 27-percent year-on-year increase.

The company aims to increase its revenues next year by 13 to 15 percent, Hai revealed.

In anticipation of export opportunities from free trade agreements in 2015, the company aims to set up and develop fibre, textile and garment factories projects in the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh.

Meanwhile, Thanh Cong Textile, Garment, Investment and Trade Joint Stock Company (TCM) aims to increase its revenues from 2.54 trillion VND in 2014 to 2.78 trillion VND in 2015, and its post-tax profits from 164 billion VND in 2014 to 170.3 billion VND in 2015.

For long-term development, the company has promoted investments for the completion of the construction of a garment factory at Hoa Phu Industrial Zone in Vinh Long province in 2015.

Vietnam's garment and textile exports in 2014 are likely to hit 24.5 million USD, a 19-percent year-on-year increase and the biggest in the past three years, according to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex).

Le Tien Truong, Vinatex General Director, also revealed that in recent years, Vietnam's garments and textiles sector has focused on diversifying materials supply sources to ease dependence on foreign sources and increase flexible competition capacity. To date, the sector has raised the localisation rate to more than 50 percent.

Vietnam's upcoming free trade agreements with the European Union, the Republic of Korea and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, are expected to open up huge opportunities for the sector.

However, it needs to improve its productivity, quality and competitiveness with investment in new technologies, machinery and innovation.-VNA