Vietnam to rely on Indian cotton
India had great opportunities to provide raw materials for Vietnam's textile industry, said Doan Duy Khuong, vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), at the Vietnam - India textile cooperation conference recently in Hanoi.
The domestic garment and textile sector had to import a large quantity of cotton as the country's cotton output met only 1% of local producers' demand, said the chairman.
Vietnam needs more than 500,000 tonnes of cotton per year to meet rising demand.
Meanwhile, India had sufficient supply of material for the Vietnamese textile industry, he said.
India is the world's second largest manufacturer of cotton, silk, cotton cellulose, and fibers with approximately US$100 billion in revenue a year, of which US$40 billion was from exports.
Bilateral cooperation in textile and garment sectors has drawn the attention of leaders and business communities of Vietnam and India.
On the occasion of the visit to India by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in October 2014, the Indian Government offered a US$300 million line of credit to Vietnam as an impetus to accelerate textile trade and investment between the two countries, said Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.
Through the conference, the Indian side had fruitful discussions about the operation of the credit line with Vietnamese agencies and enterprises in the future, said Vishvajit Sahay, joint secretary of the Department of Heavy Industry under Indian Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
The Vietnam textile industry had grown significantly in the past recent years and will continue developing in the future, said Khuong, VCCI deputy chairman.
Vietnam's garment industry, whose exports are growing at 20% per year with a turnover forecast at US$40 billion in 2020, accounts for 20% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
With the successful negotiation conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) recently, foreign enterprises have invested in Vietnamese textile industry with projects worth hundreds of millions dollars.
The bilateral trade ties between Vietnam and India have witnessed significant growth with total trade turnover of US$5.59 billion in 2014, increasing by 9.84% compared to 2013.
Vietnam has exported US$2.5 billion of products to India and imported goods valued at US$3.13 billion from India.
Total trade between the two countries reached more than US$3 billion through the first seven months of this year.
Major export items of Vietnam to India include computers, electronics, components, mobile phones and parts, automobile spare parts, rubber, chemicals, coffee, pepper, fiber of all kinds and wood.
Meanwhile, the main import items of Vietnam from India are seafood, machinery and components, pharmaceutical products, cotton, corn, steel, livestock and petrol.