A view at the conference “Textiles: India – Vietnam Cooperation, Partners in Progress” in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – A conference, entitled“Textiles: India – Vietnam Cooperation, Partners in Progress”, was held by theConsulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11, aiming to boosttrade relations between the two countries in textiles.
Addressing the event, Consul General of India K. SrikarReddy said Vietnam’s textile industry has huge potential and more and moreIndian investors are interested in doing business in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, India is a supplier of high-quality materials,fabrics and machinery at competitive prices and is also a market of 1.3 billionpeople, Reddy noted.
The government of India is encouraging investment in thetextile industry by allowing all foreign direct investment (FDI) to enter thesector without government approval, he added.
Truong Van Cam, Vice President of the Vietnam Textile andApparel Association (VITAS), said Vietnam’s textile sector is growing rapidlybut in an unbalanced way as the country has limited domestic supply ofmaterials like cotton.
He warned that if Vietnam does not improve self-supplycapacity, the country will not be able to take full advantage of benefitsbrought by free trade agreements.
According to Cam, Vietnam is in great demand of qualityyarn and fabric at reasonable prices. He expected that with strength intechnology and textile material production, India will provide Vietnam with effectivesupport in this field. Enhanced cooperation between businesses of the twocountries will help both sides offset their limitations and boost productionand expand markets, he said.
During the conference, enterprises from the two sidesshowed their desire to develop links in the sector through accelerating tradepromotion and information exchange.
India runs 176 FDI projects in Vietnam with totalinvestment of 814 million USD, making it Vietnam’s 28th largestinvestor.
Last year, Vietnam exported 31 billion USD worth oftextile and garment products, up 10.23 percent from the same period last yearwhile its imports of textile and garment materials, mostly yarns and fabrics,amounted to 19 billion USD.
India’s textile-garment shipments to Vietnam hit 429million USD in 2017, a year-on-year surge of 44 percent while its imports fromVietnam were estimated at 178 million USD, up 42 percent.
The two countries aim to bring bilateral trade to 15billion USD by 2020.-VNA
VNA
