Vietnam's garment and textilesector is exerting efforts to renovate its production methods so itcould maintain its status as one of world's largets garment producers.
Themove comes in the light of advantages offered by the Trans PacificPartnership (TPP) and other free trade agreements that the country hasentered into with regional trade blocs around the world.
Le TienTruong, Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) General Director,said that after years of manufacturing, enterprises had gained muchexperience in manufacturing, management and labour.
This wealthof experience serves as a foundation for enterprises to shift to FOB(freight on board) and original design manufacturer (ODM) model,according to the general director.
Vinatex is determined toapply as soon as possible the ODM model, which will allow the company todefine the chain linkage of dye-textile-garment and improve itsbusiness effectiveness index.
The group will review and improve operations to meet production targets for the domestic and international markets.
NguyenXuan Duong, Management Board Chairman of Hung Yen Garment CorporationJoint Stock Company, said that to be able to produce with the ODM model,concerned sectors such as textiles, garments and dyes had to develop atthe same time.
However, the garment and textile sector was weakin three areas: product development, marketing and chain linkage. Todevelop the ODM model, businesses must overcome these weaknesses,especially marketing, as well as clarify targets for the sector anddraft a material industry development plan.
Vietnam's garmentsexports in the first nine months of the year reached 18 billion USD, a19-percent year-on-year increase, and its garment imports reached 11billion USD, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). As aresult, the sector achieved a 6.2-billion USD trade surplus.
DangPhuong Dung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Textile and ApparelAssociation (VITAS), said that in spite of the high export turnover, theadded value remained modest.
This was attributed to sectoraldependence on imported materials, as the country could only provide 1percent of demand for cotton and 20.2 percent of demand for textiles.
Althoughthe sector could produce six million fibre bundles each year, only 30percent of the fibre bundles could be used because quality remains belowstandard.
Participation in the global supply chain isconsidered passive, according to Dung. The sector is mainly focused onmanufacturing processed products and lacks product model designers.Businesses that produce processed products are also passive in seekingand expanding markets.
Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Ho ThiKim Thoa said the current world trend in garment included thedevelopment of a package supply chain and e-commerce trading, both ofwhich remained a challenge to Vietnam.
In line with this, theMoIT last April approved a garment and textile development plan from2020 to 2030 that aims to make the sector a key export industry andenable it to meet increasing domestic demand, create more jobs, enhancecompetitiveness and firmly integrate with the regional and internationaleconomy.
In the past few years, the sector has been relentlessin improving the investment environment, granting preferential policies,expanding co-operation and luring capital.
Separate free tradeagreements that Vietnam has entered into with the European Union and theCustoms Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as the TPP,would serve as huge opportunities for the sector to further access worldmarkets, added Thoa.-VNA
