Garment industry sews up exports
Viet Nam News, Vietnam
HA NOI — The garment industry is on track to earn US$5.9 billion in exports by the end of this year, $1 billion higher than in the previous year, forecasted the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association.
The prediction reflected the fact that garment exports fetched $4.96 billion in the first 10 months of this year, the association said.
The US continued to be the leading importer of Vietnamese garments, but the rebound in Japanese import, reaching over $500 million in the first nine months of the year, was the most promising development for domestic garment enterprises, the association said. Only China and Italy were currently importing more garments into the Japanese market than Viet Nam.
The association’s general secretary, Le Van Dao, said the garment sector would have more development opportunities in the next two years.
The time was propitious for domestic textile and garment companies to affirm their positions on the world market, Dao said.
In the current context, he warned, domestic textile and garment companies especially smaller enterprises, needed to co-operate to remain profitable in the face of larger, better-financed foreign competitors.
International garment and textile groups were also making inroads into Viet Nam, he said.
Malaysia’s Pamatex Berhad Group has been granted a licence by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to invest $100 million in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam.
South Korea’s Daewon Corporation has decided to build an $8 million garment factory with export-oriented products in Da Nang’s Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone, its third project in Viet Nam after a garment factory in Vinh Loc Industrial Zone in HCM City and a textile mill in Nhon Trach I Industrial Zone in the southern province of Dong Nai.
Taiwan’s Formosa Group, which has invested over $500 million in Nhon Trach Industrial Zone in Dong Nai, also plans to expand its operations there with an additional $400 million investment.
Several Vietnamese garment makers have also invested abroad. The Song Hong Garment Joint Stock Co and Ninomaxx Co have recently been licensed to invest in Hong Kong and the US, respectively.
Song Hong will invest VND4.8 billion ($300,000) to build a showroom in Hong Kong, while Ninomaxx will make an initial investment of $950,000 into developing retail fashion stores in the US.
The Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group is also planning to set up a large distribution and product promotion centre in Europe. — VNS
