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.