Garments and textiles remained amongst the 10 biggest Vietnamese exports, reaching more than 3.7 billion USD in the first four months, a year-on-year increase of 14.4 percent, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

A report from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said that in this four-month period, garment and textile exports to the Republic of Korea increased by 50 percent, to the US by 15 percent, the EU by 3 percent and by more than 30 percent to Japan .

From February to April, exports added about 90-96 million USD to the industry's revenue each month.

Vitas said the growth in garment and textile exports were not from domestic companies, but those with foreign direct investment.

Vitas General Secretary Dang Phuong Dung said that foreign-invested companies maintained large orders via their parent companies located overseas.

Moreover, Dung added that many small companies had declared bankruptcy with their ex-employees scooped up by foreign-invested firms.

Vitas said that foreign-invested companies currently accounted for about 25 percent of the domestic industry, their exports making up as much as 65 percent of total turnover.

Dung affirmed that Vitas members recently received orders for the second quarter, but that difficulties remained due to high input costs and unchanged prices.

Currently, Vietnamese garment companies are trying to expand their presence in mainland China, the Republic of Korea, Angola, New Zealand, India and Russia while making efforts to find new markets.

This year, the industry aims to earn more than 15 billion USD from exports.

To reach this goal, the Ministry of Industry and Trade advised companies to lower their dependence on outsourcing orders.

Companies should buy raw materials, design, and develop products by themselves, it urged.-VNA