Vietnam’s textile and garment
exports turnover in 2017 may exceed the target of $30 billion, according to the
Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS), which says $2 billion worth
investment has poured into this sector this year to date. The turnover was $17
billion in the first seven months of this year. Some new barriers to business,
however, remain.
The country has not witnessed many large-scale new foreign direct investment (FDI)
projects in this sector this year as was seen three years ago. However, foreign
investors are seen expanding their existing projects, according to a report in an English-language online newspaper in Vietnam. The ministry of industry and trade has cautioned that
export markets have increased their trade remedies against Vietnamese products.
India, for example, imposed a tax of 35-45 per cent on elastomeric filament yarn.
While South Korean enterprise Long Thai Tu Yarn
will invest $50 million to expand its workshop in Long Khanh industrial zone
(IZ) in Dong Nai province, Trillions Enterprise from Brunei, which has a dyeing
and weaving factory in Tan Duc IZ in Long An province, wants five more hectares
to scale up production. Taiwanese Far Eastern has registered additional
investment capital of $485.8 million, raising its total investment in Bau Bang
IZ to $760 million after two years of operation. Among the Vietnamese firms that have stepped up
investment, Bao Minh Textile has invested $75 million in a cloth-making unit in
Nam Dinh that is likely to become operational by March 2018.
Though companies no longer expect nil tax, Vietnam
remains a big garment exporter globally, according to VITAS chairman Vu Duc
Giang. VITAS feels
besides the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Vietnam’s textile and garment
industry enjoys benefits from other free trade agreements, including the ones
with the European Union (EU), South Korea and Japan. Vietnam holds only 3 per
cent of the EU market share in this sector.
Source: Vietnam News, Vietnam Friday, 01 December 2017