Vietnam’s textile and garment industry is showing signs of recovery with a sharp increase in total export value in recent months and a large number of orders through the end of the year from importers.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association’s figures, textile product export turnover reached 900 million USD in July alone, a month-to-month increase of 54 million USD.

This has contributed to reducing the decline in export value for the whole industry from 4.7 percent in the first six months to 1 percent over the first seven months of this year.

A survey of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garment, Textile, Embroidery and Knitting stated that the number of orders from big importers including the US, EU and Japan has increased in recent months and June orders are up by 20 percent over the previous month.

Most enterprises have placed orders through October—some even for the whole year. For example, the Minh Khai Textile Company has an order to export cotton towels to Japan through year’s end, and the Viet Tien Garment Company is making an all-out-effort to fill a number of orders that increased by 20 percent over the past months.

Japan is currently Vietnam’s top importer, displacing the US, with a 20-percent increase in export turnover anticipated, as compared with last year.

Apart from traditional export markets, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association and its enterprises are eyeing new markets such as the Middle East region and Africa, where there is a large demand for Vietnamese products.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu said textile and garment product export turnover is likely to reach 10 billion USD this year, a year-on-year increase of over 900 million USD.

According to the UK Business Monitor International (BMI) Company, Vietnam now ranks 36 th on the world’s list of countries acquiring the highest added value from the textile and apparel industry./.