Vietnam apparel exports leap in Jan-Apr

09 May '12

2 min read

Garment and textile exports from the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam grew to US$ 3.7 billion during the initial four months of the current year, showing a year-on-year rise of 14.4 percent, as per the data released by the General Statistics Office.

During the January-April period, Vietnam's apparel and textile exports to South Korea rose by 50 percent, while those to Japan by 30 percent, to the US by 15 percent and to the EU by 3 percent, according to a report from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS).

The VITAS report said the growth in clothing and textile exports came from companies with foreign direct investment, which continued to get large orders from their overseas parent firms.

About 25 percent of apparel and textile firms in Vietnam currently have foreign investment, and these together accounted for nearly 65 percent of total Vietnamese garment and textile exports during the four-month period, the report said.

Dang Phuong Dung, General Secretary of VITAS, said several small firms have gone bankrupt in recent months and their ex-employees have been absorbed by foreign-invested companies.

VITAS member companies have received orders for the second quarter, but these firms are facing problems in execution of the same owing to high input costs, she said.

At present, Vietnamese apparel firms are trying to boost their exports to countries like Angola, Russia, China, India, South Korea and New Zealand, while continuing to explore alternative markets.

Vietnamese clothing industry has set the target of earning US$ 15 billion from exports this year. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has suggested domestic firms to reduce their dependence on raw material imports.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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