HCM City (VNA) – Free tradeagreements, particularly the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA), are the driving force to attract big investments in Vietnam’sgarment-textile industry.

The statement was made by Chairman of theVietnam Textile and Apparel Association Vu Duc Gaing at a conference held in HoChi Minh City on August 2 highlighting the impacts of the CPTPP and EVFTA onthe garment-textile sector. 

According to Giang, although the two agreements have yet come into force, theyhave created great attraction to foreign investors.  

In the first six months of 2018, Vietnam lured 2.8 billion USD in foreigndirect investment (FDI) in garment-textile, bringing the total FDI in thesector to nearly 17.5 billion USD. 

A considerable number of large-scale projects were carried out in the firsthalf of the year including a German-invested sheep wool yarn spinning plant inthe Central Highlands city of Da Lat and an US-invested yarn production plantin the southern province of Dong Nai. 

Many Vietnamese firms have invested in material production projects, which arethe key to solving the country’s dependence on importing garment-textilematerials in the coming years as well as helping Vietnam reduce production costand increase competitiveness, Giang said. 

Apart from drawing investment, CPTPP and EVFTA have helped change the structureof export markets of Vietnamese garment-textile products in recent years, headded. 

Previously, many businesses from Canada, Australia and New Zealand just focusedon the Chinese market, but now they have studied Vietnamese garment-textileproducts with the signing of specific orders, he noted. 

Vuong Duc Anh from the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department,said there are huge opportunities for the garment-textile sector once the CPTPPand EVFTA take into effect. 

However, to optimise benefits from the agreements, Vietnamese firms have toovercome some challenges such as the competitive pressure from FDI companiesand the strict rules of origin, he said. 

Besides proactively approaching to new markets, local businesses should pay moreattention to the origin of products and improving quality to secure orders andmaintain long-term partnership with foreign enterprises, hesuggested.-VNA