Garment industry optimistic about exports in 2009

Source:Vietnam Net Bridge
17:23' 21/07/2009 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – If businesses exert themselves, Vietnam could obtain the garment export turnover of $10 billion this year, $900 million more than in 2008, according to the minister of industry and trade.

According to Business Monitor International (BMI), a market surveyor, though Vietnam remains a medium-size garment producer, it has obtained satisfactory growth rates recently and is now 36th in the world in the added value brought about by the industry. Meanwhile, Vietnam has seen positive signs from new export markets, especially from Japan.


Time to expand market

Also according to BMI, among the 17 categories of products worth over $10 million Vietnam exports to Japan, 11 of them have seen increases in turnover. T-shirts, for example, have witnessed the increase of 161 percent, while dresses by 58 percent and kimonos 43 percent. It is expected that the turnover of garments exported to Japan in 2009 will increase by 20 percent over 2008.


Moreover, Vietnam has new markets, including Egypt, Turkey and Eastern Europe. It has also got orders to export garment materials to China.


According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), there has recently been an important event for Vietnam’s garment and fashion industry: The Asian Fashion Association has accepted Vietnam as the 6th member of the association. The official admission is expected to take place in November 2009.


Vietnam’s membership in the most prestigious fashion association in Asia will help Vietnam’s fashion industry get more advantages in promoting trade. In addition, the announcement that ASEAN’s three leading garment export countries, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, may set up an alliance by the end of the year, means that Vietnam may be able to boost exports in the region and cut production costs.

Orders enough to ensure jobs through year’s end
General Director of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) Vu Duc Giang said that garment export turnover was $4 billion in the first six months of the year, down by 4.7 percent from the same period of last year. However, when the world’s garment demand decreased by 15 percent, Vietnam’s export decrease of 5 percent proves to be a satisfactory result.

Vinatex, which is the biggest garment group in Vietnam, fulfilled 148 percent of its six-month business plan.

According to garment companies, unlike the first quarter of the year, when many companies had to narrow production due to decreases in the number of export orders, a lot of orders from the US and EU have come recently. Some big corporations have reported they have enough contracts to ensure jobs until the end of the year.


Representative from Viet Tien Garment Corporation said that the corporation now has to mobilise workers from different sources to implement export orders, which are 20 percent higher than those in recent months. Nam Dinh Garment Company has reported it has enough orders until the first quarter of 2010.

Viet Thang, Nha Be, Thang Loi and Phong Phu have also got a lot of orders, saying that loyal partners have come back to place orders after having gone absent for a period.


Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu said that despite the big difficulties, if businesses exert themselves, Vietnam will still be able to export $10 billion worth of garment products this year, $900 million more than in 2008.