The Vietnam National Garment & Textile Group (Vinatex) is set to go public in the first half of this year as part of its restructuring scheme, its Deputy Director General Le Tien Truong told the Vietnam News Agency in a recent interview.

Reviewing the company’s recent performance, Truong hailed 2013 as a successful year for the garment sector, with over 20 billion USD in export turnover and a growth of nearly 18 percent ensuring that expectations were surmounted. He praised investors both in and outside the country for their role in the success.

Vinatex alone brought home 2.95 billion USD from exports and sustained a growth of 14 percent.

Discussing prospects in 2014, Truong said there is high hope that the sector can grow at a rate of over 12 percent, as global economic growth is estimated at some 3.6 percent, compared to 2.6 percent seen in 2013.

Truong said the company has divested itself of non-core business areas to focus on restructuring. In the near future, Vinatex will set its sights on perfecting corporate governance, making it more modern and transparent.

Some challenges remain, however. The group now faces high land rent prices and investors in many localities show little interest in dying and waste treatment projects. In the meantime, the quality of the weaving – dying – sewing chain remains weak.

To be highly competitive in the world market, he said more focus should be put on the quality, pricing, speed of supply and post-sale services of products.-VNA