The textile and garment industry will not reach a full-year targeted export value of between $5.2 billion and $5.4 billion for it earned only $4.32 billion from exports in the first 11 months of this year.
Chairman Le Quoc An of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, the sector will earn an export value of $4.82 billion this year, increasing by 10% over last year. Of which, export turnover to the US market will be $2.46 billion, up 6.5%; to the EU, $875 million, up 15%; and Japan, $405 million, up 14%.
To the US market, categories that controlled by quotas will have an export value of $1.62 billion, up 6% and non-quota categories will reach $1.02 billion, up 9%. Exports of non-quota categories have been very promising with a rapid growth from $250 million in 2002 to more than $1 billion in 2005. ?hat shows capacity of Vietnamese enterprises.? said Mr. Le Quoc An.
He further noted that most of categories of Vietnam witness considerable growth in the context of ?oo hot?rise of Chinese textile and garment. Experts say Vietnamese clothing products are becoming more and more competitiveness with those from China in the US market.
Mr. Diep Thanh Kiet, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Garment, Embroidery Association said businesses should not depend too much on quota markets because only $1.6 billion out of $4.8 billion of textile export value this year is earned from quota markets. Therefore, they should push up exports to nearer markets in Asia such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore in addition to traditional markets.
Vietnam? textile exports to Japan grew again, at 14%. This is a very competitive market because of no quotas imposed. Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, General Director of Sai Gon 3 Garment Company which represented nearly 40% of the country? textile and garment export value to Japan said it is not easy to export commodities to the Japanese market but once exporters gain good reputation there, export growth is possible. Clothing exports to the EU market this year might increase by 15%. However, this rate is still low in compared to established target because the EU has eliminated quantitative limits on garment imports.
Wrong consideration of competitors is one of the reasons for slow growth of the textile and garment industry. ?e are not as strong as and our competitors that are China and India are stronger than we think.? Chairman Le Quoc An admitted.
Manufacturers say state management over the textile and garment industry needs more improvement and transparency. They themselves also need to enhance competitiveness in terms of quality, category, technology, etc.
Mr. An said next year, the sector will even face a tougher competition especially when China and the US signed a textile agreement. Many remains to be done otherwise difficulties will become bigger next year.
