Hanoi (VNA) – India is one of the major material suppliersof Vietnam’s garment and textile sector, but trade value between the two sides remainsmodest. Therefore, Indian firms are working to promote trade activities in theVietnamese market.

Earlier this month, the Indian Consulate General in Ho Ch Minh City workedwith the Vietnam Cotton and Spinning Association (VCOSA) to hold a meetingbetween Vietnamese firms and their Indian counterparts joining the 18th International Textile and Garment Industry Exhibition.

According to the General Statistics Office, in 2017, trade betweenVietnam and India hit 7.62 billion USD, with Vietnam’s exports at 3.75 billionUSD.

In the first nine months of 2018, bilateral trade hit 8.27 billion USD, up47 percent over the same period in 2017, bringing the countries closer to thetarget of 15 billion USD in two-way trade in 2020.

The two sides have defined garment and textiles as a prioritised sector inbilateral ties.

Indian General Consul in Ho Chi Minh City K Srikar Reddy cited Indianstatistics showing that in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, India’s global exports ofgarment and textile hit 36.73 billion USD, including 555 million USD toVietnam, up 42 percent over the previous fiscal year.

From April to August 2018 of the 2018-2019 fiscal year, India earned 257million USD from selling garment and textile products to Vietnam, up 59 percentover the same period a year earlier.

Although trade of garment and textile between the two countries hasenjoyed impressive growth in the past two years, the two sides have muchpotential to continue boosting partnership in the area.

The Vietnamese garment and textile sector imports cotton, accessoriesand fabric for production.

Under the free trade agreement between India and the ASEAN, most cottonand woven cotton fabric and knitted fabric imported from India will enjoy taxexemption from January 1, 2019, making India a competitive supplier of garmentand textile materials and machines for Vietnam.

Last year, Vietnam imported 19 billion USD worth of materials, mostlyyarn and fabric from major suppliers such as China, the Republic of Korea andTaiwan (China). However, imports from India were modest.

Shailesh Martis from the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council ofIndia (Texprocil) said Vietnamese firms should explore the 1.3 billion-strongmarket of India.

Statistics from Texprocil showed that in 2017, India was the world’ssecond largest exporter of cotton products, top cotton and jute producer andthe second biggest fibre producer.

Indian businesses have shown increasing interest in Vietnam from whichthey can enter the Southeast Asian market.

Indian businesses have invested in 201 big projects in Vietnam with a totalinvestment of about 876 million USD, ranking 27th out of the 126foreign countries and territories investing in Vietnam. But Indian GeneralConsul K Srikar Reddy said that if counting India’s investment to Vietnamthrough a third country, the figure is 1.4 billion USD.-VNA