Vietnam’s garment and textiles export is projected to hit nearly 44 billion USD this year, positioning the country as the world’s second biggest exporter, only behind India, said General Director of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) Cao Huu Hieu.
A series of exhibitions in the textile and apparel sector simultaneously opened at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City on September 25.
Textile and garment firms have enjoyed a more robust business result on the back of an increase in orders which helped the sector gain 16.52 billion USD in export revenue in the first half of this year, up 4.6% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group.
The majority of garment businesses have received orders to be fulfilled until September-October and even beyond. However, prices continue to be impacted by the lingering market effects of 2022-2023.
2023 was the most difficult year in more than three decades of exporting for the textile and garment industry, excluding 2020 when the whole world closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Le Tien Truong, vice chairman of the board of directors of Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group.
Suffering from declined overseas shipments, export businesses in some industries now need more assistance from the Government to navigate difficulties and challenges, insiders have said.
Vietnamese garment and textile enterprises are taking measures to seize market opportunities and maintain production and increase exports, amidst a significant decrease in orders.
It is necessary for domestic enterprises to switch to green textile and garment production in an effort to achieve sustainable development goals and cope with the gradual loss of Vietnam’s cost advantage, insiders have said.
Textile and garment businesses in Vietnam are taking steps to switch to green production to meet partners’ demand and achieve sustainable development, the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper reported.
The textile and garment sector has predicted that difficulties will remain for its exports in the first half of 2023, but there are also silver linings it can pin hopes on.
Surmounting the tensest period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of enterprises have regained growth momentum. However, rising input costs are affecting their performance.
Vietnamese goods are benefitting from better quality, diverse designs and competitive prices to establish their place on the domestic and global markets.
Many Vietnamese businesses have won preference from consumers thanks to their product quality and active participation in major events to further promote domestic goods.
Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex)’s post-tax profit in the last quarter of 2021 was nearly 500 billion VND (22.03 million USD), tripling the figure recorded in the same period of the previous year.
Every year after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, many businesses face a serious shortage of workers. Last year, due to the impact of social distancing orders, enterprises struggled with a shortage of labour. Therefore, the need to prepare the workforce for the post-Tet period is even more urgent.
The textile - garment industry is expected to thrive and earn 40 billion USD in exports next year, when the COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to ease in Vietnam and the world.
To maintain business operations amid social distancing order caused by the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to pool the drastic involvement of local authorities, especially flexibly adopting plans to both fight the pandemic and prevent production disruption.
