Vietnam's textile & garment exports continue to grow: US site

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam's garment export turnover is expected to increase to 16.04 billion USD in the second half of this year from 14.96 billion USD in the first half, the US website Fiber2Fashion reported on August 11.

The country’s textile exports recovered in the first half of this year thanks to efforts of relevant sectors to accelerate the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, improve the quality of products, and implement sustainable strategies for the industry.

According to Fibre2Fashion’s market analysis tool TexPro, Vietnam's apparel exports reached 31.48 billion in 2019, but dropped by 9.19 percent to 28.59 billion USD in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The country earned 15.2 billion USD from textile and garment exports in the first six months of 2021, up 15 percent year-on-year. This is a good result in the context of COVID-19.

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said the export turnover of the sector is predicted to reach 32-33 billion USD this year, equivalent to 84 percent the plan set, if the pandemic is brought under control in late August.

Textile enterprises are currently receiving many orders from US and the European Union, it noted.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the UK-Vietnam free trade agreement (UKVFTA) have helped the Southeast Asian nation to boost trade amid the pandemic, Fibre2Fashion said.

The UKVFTA that officially came into force on May 1 has helped promote Vietnam's apparel exports to the UK as it removed almost all customs duties between the two countries, it added.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Vietnam has surpassed India and China in a number of trade aspects, including foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction. Vietnam has also introduced policies to maintain its low-cost production advantage.

Since the fourth quarter of 2020, Vietnamese firms have successfully secured export orders.

The import of raw materials has also been expanded thanks to new free trade agreements. The main materials such as textiles, fibers and yarns were previously imported from China, but now some materials are imported from India, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and European countries.

According to the Daily Star, Vietnam outperformed Bangladesh and emerged as the second-most important exporter of apparel in the global market in 2020.


The World Trade Statistical Review 2021 recently released by the World Trade Organization (WTO) revealed that Vietnam has surpassed Bangladesh as the world’s second largest exporter of ready-made garments (RMG), Fashion United, an international B2B fashion platform, quoted the World Trade Statistical Review 2021 released by World Trade Organization (WTO), as saying.

Bangladesh is now in third position, with China remaining the largest exporter accounting for 31.6 market share despite a 7 percent decrease in 2020, valuing its exports at 142 billion USD, said the report.

Vietnam’s clothing exports increased by 6.4 percent in 2020 with a market value of 29 billion USD. Over the past decade, Vietnam’s share in the global apparel export market surged, while Bangladesh’s export growth dropped from 6.8 percent to 6.3 percent in 2020.

Over the last decade, Vietnam has been moving strategically to consolidate its position in the global apparel market. Key elements of this strategy included moving up the value chain, and product and market diversification, implemented through targeted policy interventions and actions, and the country has achieved impressive success in pursuing this over the past decade.

A recent survey conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the World Bank (WB) showed that about 35 percent of businesses in Vietnam had to lay off employees due to the pandemic.

About 97 percent of textile companies faced negative impacts caused by the health crisis. The decrease in garment exports in February 2021 was attributed to a new wave of the pandemic in the country.

In the first quarter of the year, orders for textile products skyrocketed after Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The US and Japan remained the largest importers of Vietnam’s garment and textile products in the first half of 2021. Local garment firms have signed order contracts until the end of the year, and are negotiating for more for 2022./.