Vietnam & S America working on forming textile supply chain

The scope is high as nations in the continent have been trying to reshape the supply chain and diversify the supply of imported goods after the pandemic.

Le Hoang Tai, deputy director of the trade promotion department under Vietnam’s ministry of industry and trade, said the volume and value of Vietnamese textile and garment exports to the South American market remain limited.

“There are many reasons for the limitation such as geographical location, cultural differences, lack of information on capacity and needs between both sides’ enterprises and effective trade promotion activities. Additionally, some South American economies have low openness," Tai was quoted as saying by a Vietnamese newspaper.

Truong Van Cam, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said the understanding of Vietnamese firms about national culture, consumers, customs and habits in South American countries is limited and vice versa. In addition, many such countries are large textile and garment producing countries, meaning they are both cooperative and competitive with Vietnamese companies.

Trade between Vietnam and South American nations is yet to achieve its full potential, especially in the textile and garment sector, according to industry experts in the former. Despite the continent being a lucrative fashion market with a relatively high per capita income, many businesses and consumers there are not aware of Vietnamese fashion products.

Vietnam’s annual textile and garment exports to Brazil stands between $150 million and $200 million, whilst those to Chile are between $70 million and $90 million and to Peru, the figure is between $30 million to $40 million. The country’s textile and garment imports, mainly cotton from Brazil, are worth between $300 million to $500 million.

Vietnamese experts feel it is necessary to quickly start negotiations for a free trade agreement with the South American Common Market, called MERCOSUR.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)