The garment and textile sector remained attractive to both foreign and domestic investors in Ho Chi Minh City as it absorbed 70.62 percent of the total investment flow into the city’s industrial zones in the first half of 2014.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zone Authority (Hepza), the sector accounted for 82.44 percent of the total foreign investment, attracting nearly 200 million USD.

Head of Hepza Investment Management Office Tran Viet Ha said that there will be more projects in this sector as the global garment and textile market is forecast to grow by 3.5 percent, while Vietnam is active in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

In the time ahead, Hepza will continue speeding up the establishment of new supporting industrial zones to assist this trend, while a Japan-Vietnam supporting industry forum will be held in order to attract investment from Japan’s small- and medium-sized enterprises.

As of June 30, Hepza attracted 333.47 million USD in both newly-registered and added investment, equivalent to 60.6 percent of the set target for this year and up 55.5 percent against the same period last year.-VNA