Apparel industry persists with export target of US$43.5 billion

This information was provided by Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS), during a press conference held on July 21.

Apparel enterprises have continued to adapt quickly to changes and have duly restructured the market and changed technological equipment in order to meet the high requirements set by importing countries.

According to details given by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), this year marks the first step in the gradual recovery of textile enterprises after two years of being heavily impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

During the first half of the year, textile and garment export turnover stood at an estimated US$22.3 billion, up 17.7% over the same period from last year. This represents a great effort by the textile and garment industry amid the global economy continuing to face plenty of challenges and difficulties.

In the sector, major export items include garments with a turnover of US$16.94 billion, thereby representing an annual rise of 19.5%.

Furthermore, the prices of cotton, crude oil, and petrol soared by 19.1%, 40%, and 67%, respectively, compared to the beginning of this year, with transportation costs tripling from the average rate of the last five years, driving the total expenditure of Vietnamese exporters up as much as 20% to 25%, Giang explained.

This year, the entire Vietnamese apparel industry aims to reach US$43.5 billion. From now until the end of the year, this sector still faces many immediate risks and challenges, particularly when the risk of re-emergence caused by new strains of COVID-19 remains.

Many countries and territories that are important trading partners to the nation, such as China, Japan, and Taiwan (China), are still applying strict anti-pandemic measures, greatly impacting the supply chain of auxiliary materials and consumption of textile products of the country.

Moreover, high inflation in major textile and garment consuming markets such as the United States and the EU, along with complicated developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have caused the prices of raw materials and fuels to rise continuously since the beginning of the year.

In order to stabilise production towards achieving a sustainable goal moving forward, Vu Duc Giang, chairman of VITAS, said that businesses themselves need to catch up with market trends, invest in machinery and technology, as well as green transformation. This should be done to adapt to the requirements of brands, intensify solutions for the training of human resources and adapt to the difficult situation of the market, especially focusing on training designers for the fashion industry.

VITAS has been working to connect domestic and foreign firms for the formation of supply chains, expand markets, and enhance international co-operation in implementing projects in renewable energy, efficient water use, designing, branding and labour management, he added.