HCM City (VNA) - Vietnam’stextile and garment sector is hoped to make breakthroughs in 2019 based onsuccesses and momentum last year.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), 2018 was asuccessful year for the textile and garment industry with a total exportturnover of over 36 billion USD, up over 16 percent year-on-year, making Vietnamone of the three biggest exporters of textiles and garments in the world.

VITAS Chairman Vu Duc Giang said last year, the world saw complicateddevelopments, rising trade disputes and scientific-technological advances. Inthat context, the association proposed many measures to the Government, andrelevant ministries and sectors to remove policies that cause difficulties forbusinesses operating in this field, he said.

With the results achieved in 2018, Vietnamese textile firms have witnessed positivesignals for orders in 2019.

Many businesses have already received orders for the first six months of 2019 andeven the whole year. Vietnam’s products are highly competitive and the country graduallycompleted the textile supply chain because flows of capital investment in thetextile and dyeing industry, and material has been on the rise.

The upcoming enforcement of new generation free trade agreements is a positivefactor supporting for production and business activities of the sector in 2019.

On that basis, VITAS has set a target of 40 billion USD in export turnover, up10.8 percent compared to 2018. The sector is expected to enjoy a trade surplusof 20 billion USD, and create employment and increase income for 2.85 millionworkers.

Experts said in 2019, the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is hoped tocreate a boost for many industries of Vietnam, including the textile andgarment sector. In addition, the textile and garment sector is also waiting formore orders shifted from China to Vietnam due to the US-China trade war.

According to Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of theBoard of Directors of Saigon 3 Garment Joint Stock Company, domestic enterprises will be enabled to choose orders with highs price and easierrequirements when a lot of orders are moved from China to Vietnam.  
 
In order to catch up with these opportunities, local businesses need togradually improve technologies and invest more in new technologies, he said.

However, opportunities will always go with challenges, experts said.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2019 will continue to be achallenging year for the sector to integrate into the global textile supplychain.

Especially, the fourth IndustrialRevolution will have great impacts on the textile and garment industry in thecoming time, forcing it to change and strongly increase investment in equipmentand personnel.

Many consumers now require origin certificationsand environmentally-friendly products, so textile and garment enterprises needto ensure global standards of materials to ensure health of customers.

Bui Kim Thuy, Chief Representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), saidVietnam is participating in 16 free trade agreements (FTAs). Ten out of 12 signedagreements have been enforced, such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement(ATIGA), the ASEAN-China FTA, the ASEAN-Korea FTA, while the two remainders,the CPTPP and the ASEAN-Hong Kong (China) FTA, have not yet come into force.

The participation in various FTAs helps Vietnamese enterprises to have morechoices in exporting goods abroad. However, those are also bringing challengesto the sector, she said.

Thuy stressed that if businesses do not meet regulations on origin of goods, itwill be difficult for them to take full advantage of incentives from FTAs.-VNA