Garment makers eye latest technology
(10-04-2014)
Viet Nam News, Vietnam
HCM CITY — Thousands of domestic and foreign textile and garment companies aim to ink deals and test technologies at the International Textile and Garment Industry Expo in HCM City that opened yesterday.
The four-day exhibition at HCM City’s International Exhibition and Convention Centre until Saturday has 550 booths in a space of more than 12,000sq.m, representing 395 companies from 27 countries and territories, a 50 per cent increase against last year.
The exhibitors come from China, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Canada and Australia, which are displaying machinery, materials and accessories for garment and textile manufacturing and processing.
The Expo was organised as part of the trade promotion programme of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam, Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), and others.
The 18th Expo has become an opportunity for local textile and garment firms to work with overseas partners on state-of-the-art tools and equipment from industrialised countries.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu said during the opening ceremony that Viet Nam’s garment industry was investing in modern technologies, and that accessories were essential.
Khu said more exhibitors were taking part in the exhibition, proving the dramatic development of Viet Nam’s garment sector.
More deals would be signed between local and foreign companies at the exhibition, he expected.
Expanding more facilities and improving technologies was a strategy to develop the industry at high speed and improve global competitiveness, Khu said.
Hoang Van Dung, vice chairman of VCCI, said the garment sector had created jobs for more than two million workers, contributing 15 per cent of export turnover and that the country was listed in the top 10 leading garment exporters in the world. It has achieved 20 per cent growth annually.
Viet Nam’s garment export turnover in 2014 hit US$7.8 billion and industry insiders expected this to increase to $9.5 billion this year, said Le Quoc An, chairman of Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association.
Investing in technology was the key strategy to boost productivity and design of fashion items, An said, adding that by 2014 Viet Nam’s garment export turnover should be $12 billion. — VNS
