Garment industry foresees rough 2017

Le Tien Truong, General Director of the National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex), said textile and garment exports to the US and the EU will also be under negative impacts as consequences of Brexit and the US President-elect Donald Trump, who opposes the TPP trade pact.

Therefore, the sector anticipates its export growth rate at just 5%-7% if there are no appropriate policies, Truong said.

Vu Duc Giang chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said it has made several proposals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on support for the local industry, including strengthening management of both domestic and foreign investment projects in the industry, reviewing policies on minimum wage raises and working hours.

The association also asked for adjustments to the sector’s development and assistance in human resources training assistance.

In addition, Vitas also proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review and revise legal documents causing difficulties for garment and textile businesses. It has also asked to eliminate the limit on extra working hours monthly to help businesses spur their production.

Vietnamese textile and garment export revenues increased 4.8% year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year to reach US$23.3 billion, according to Vinatex.

The garment-textile export turnover needs to hit an average of US$2.5 billion a month in the last two months of the year in order to reach this year’s target of US$28-US$29 billion.

The US is the top market of Vietnam’s textile and garment products with US$10 billion, up 4.37% against last year, followed by the Europe with nearly US$3 billion , a year-on-year increase of 2.46%.

Japan and Republic of Korea (RoK) are also among key markets for Vietnamese garments and textiles.