Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has made it onto the list of the world’s five biggest textileexporters and producers, with textile and garment export turnover hitting 16billion USD in the first half of 2018, up more than 14 percent year-on-year.

Experts said Vietnam has many opportunities to expand its markets in the fieldthanks to free trade agreements signed by the country with partners.

The signing of the European Union - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in2018 is hoped to help Vietnam's textile and garment industry make deeperinroads into this market.

BESIDES, the US is likely to increase import tariffs on textiles and garmentsfrom China, and this will create favourable conditions for Vietnameseenterprises to expand and increase their export market share to the US - a keymarket for Vietnam’s textile products.

According to Vu Duc Giang, President of theVietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), thanks to the world economy in2018 is expected to achieve higher growth than 2017, and the national macro economyremains stable, the textile industry  reportedpositive results in the last two quarters.

In the period, the production of fabrics from natural yarnwas estimated to reach 274.6 million sq.m, a year-on-year rise of 9.7 percent,while the production of synthetic fabrics and clothing were estimated at 525.9million sq.m, and 2,305 million of clothing units, up 21.1 and 10.4 percent,respectively, over the same period last year, Giang said.

Exports to key markets such as the US, member countries of the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Chinaand ASEAN posted stronger growth than the Jan-June period of 2017.

However, Giang said the sector will still face many difficulties in the rest of2018 and the next few years amid stagnant consumption demand and fiercecompetition in the global textile market.

Global textile and garment demand is forecast to increase only 1 - 2 percent,he noted.

Another difficulty is that the US and the EU still levy 17.5 percent and 9.6percent duties on Vietnamese textile products, respectively, while those forother developing countries such Cambodia and Myanmar are zero percent.

Giang said to help textile and garment enterprises boost their exports, VITAS willcontinue to implement trade promotion programmes and introduce measures to takeadvantages of opportunities provided by the CPTPP and the EVFTA.

It will coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to hold trainingcourses on how to respond to the 4th industrial revolution, helpingenterprises devise plans to promote sustainable development, Giang added.

Enterprises should focus on training human resources to meet the digitalisationrequirements of some stages in production, he noted.

Besides the main export markets such as the US, EU, Japan, and the RoK,  Vietnamese  textile and garment firms are also focusing onexploiting other markets like China and  ASEAN.

In 2017, the garment-textile sector raked in 31.2 billion USD from exports, ayear-on-year rise of 10.23 percent.

In the year, Vietnam’s garment-textile exportsto major markets like the US, the EU, Japan, the RoK and Russia increased by7.2 percent, 9.23 percent, 6.1 percent, 11.8 percent and 56 percent,respectively.-VNA