Scores of foreign invested enterprises in the textile and garment sector are looking to expand their presence in Vietnam, the Vietnam Investment Review said.

In late April or early May, Venture International JSC from the Netherlands plans to start construction on a new factory in the central province of Nghe An.

The 10 million USD factory has a designed capacity of 150,000-210,000 jackets and 2 million shirts a year, and would provide jobs to about 1,000 workers.

Venture dropped anchor in Vietnam back in 2007 with a garment factory in northern Hai Duong province that similarly employed around 1,000.

The plant’s production line (protective clothing, fire-proof coats and specialised uniforms) will be exported to Europe and generate tens of millions of dollars a year.

The company’s director John Somers attributed rising customer demands to Venture’s planned factory in Nghe An.

Venture is not the only company with big expansion plans. At Dong Nam Industrial Park in Ho Chi Minh City, two FDI projects with a combined investment of nearly 200 million USD are underway.

The first project, from Worldon Vietnam Limited, is a 140 million USD garment plant with a planned output of 80 million items a year.

The plant’s first phase is slated for completion in June 2015.

The other, invested by Sheico Vietnam Limited, will soon begin. It is a 50 million USD weaving and garment export project. Its first phase is expected to be completed by November this year.

Other potential projects have been reported by Nam Dinh, QuangBinh and Dong Nai provinces.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), now is a good time to push up garment and textile export as both the domestic and global markets are rebounding, evidenced by numerous garment and textile firms having already secured orders for the third and fourth quarters.

Vitas, however, admitted that foreign invested garment and textile firms, though few in number, make up to 60 percent of the sector’s total export value and their continuous expansion shows the widening gap between their development level and that of domestic enterprises.

Nguyen Van Thoi, chairman of TNG Investment and Trading JS, forecast Vietnam’s textile and garment industry could achieve a growth rate of 30 percent this year.

“The sector’s export value could jump to 26 billion USD this year, up 4 billion USD against last year. Many enterprises already have orders for the whole of 2014,” Thoi said.-VNA