Garments continue topping list of exports

Posting an export turnover of 8 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, garments continued taking the lead amongst export staples since the beginning of 2009.

The export of garments to the Republic of Korea saw the highest growth rate of 84 percent, mainly thanks to a reduction in tariff in line with the ASEAN-RoK Free Trade Agreement, while the export to the US , which accounts for 55 percent of the industry’s revenues, also grew by 20 percent.

Posting an export turnover of 8 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, garments continued taking the lead amongst export staples since the beginning of 2009.

The export of garments to the Republic of Korea saw the highest growth rate of 84 percent, mainly thanks to a reduction in tariff in line with the ASEAN-RoK Free Trade Agreement, while the export to the US , which accounts for 55 percent of the industry’s revenues, also grew by 20 percent.

In particular, garment exports to the European market have bounced back in the past three months, at 7 percent, following a long period of dropping.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Garments and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao said a number of domestic garment companies have received orders for the first half of 2011, plus prices have risen by 10-15 percent year-on-year.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Viet Hung Garment Joint Stock Company said the business has recently signed contracts to export 1.2 million items to Japan in early 2011.

Vietnam ’s garment firms will also have the opportunity to boost exports and investments to Laos and Cambodia as the European Union (EU) has decided to grant references in terms of material origin to the two nations.

With these advantages, Dao said the industry is likely to reach the yearly target of 10.5 billion USD in export turnover right in November.

To achieve sustainable development, garment businesses have also paid due attention to the domestic market by participating in programmes which are designed to encourage local consumers to use Vietnamese goods and bring Vietnamese goods to rural areas.

Many supermarkets under the Vietnam Garment and Textile Group have embarked on plans to expand foothold in the domestic market in an effort to record a retail sale growth rate of between 17-20 percent in 2010./.

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