Yahoo, Thailand
HANOI, Nov 19 Asia Pulse – Vietnam’s garment sector has enjoyed strong growth in the two years since the country’s WTO accession despite facing stiff competition, according to participants at a seminar in Hanoi on November 18.
Phan Chi Dung, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Light Industry Department, said that the garment sectors most noteworthy achievement has been to increase its export turnover to more than US$7.8 billion in 2014, more than double the 2004 figure and accounting for 15 per cent of the country’s total export revenue.
The result has helped lift Vietnam to ninth position among the world’s biggest garment exporters, he added.
The sectors growth rate was maintained during the first ten months of this year, with total export turnover reaching US$7.64 billion, up 20.3 per cent over the same period last year. This figure is predicted to reach US$9.5 billion for the whole year.
The US remains Vietnam’s largest garment importer, contributing 57 per cent of the country’s export turnover, followed by the EU with 18 per cent and Japan with 9 per cent.
As one of the nation’s largest hard currency earners the garment sector has made major contributions to ensuring employment for local workers. There are now around 2,000 garment businesses in the country providing jobs for more than 2 million workers
To attain their goal of recording US$12 billion in total export earnings by 2014 Vietnamese garment companies should draw up suitable business strategies in order to make the best use of their competitive advantage, said Dinh Thi Ty, a representative from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.
She also said that the association plans to coordinate with authorised agencies to create the sectors development strategy and strengthen international cooperation and trade promotion activities in an effort to expand the flow of Vietnamese products into the global market.
