Vietnam has been doing exceedingly well in garment exports, shipping US $ 27 billion worth of products in 2015 and is all set to overtake Bangladesh as the biggest exporter from Asia after China. The new thrust created by the expectation of increased business post TPP and the signing of the impending trade agreement with the European Union is palpable in the industry. In an exclusive interaction with Apparel Resources, Nguyen Dinh Truong, Vice Chairman, Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, gives a rundown on where the industry is heading for. Excerpts from the interview…
AR: Do you think the signing of the TPP agreement will impact the Vietnamese garment and textile industry?
N.D. Truong: The TPP will definitely have impact on our exports, as it will open new markets. Many SMEs are coming up and investments from companies abroad are also on the increase. The industry here is learning to fend for itself and is developing according to what is required at every step of the supply chain, what we need now is technical support to move up the value chain and gain more from Free Trade Agreements, particularly the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
AR: What would you say is the weak link in the growth of the industry here?
N. D. Truong: In our country the supply chain is yet to be developed, so the manufacturers here can source everything from within the country. We produce nearly 1.5 billion metre of fabric domestically, out of which we export about a billion metre. Due to our rising demand of fabric, we imported around 7.5 billion metre of fabric last year, as the industry grows, fabrics imports may also increase.
AR: How are the Vietnamese companies in terms of compliance?
N. D. Truong: Since our country produces largely for export, we follow the international standards and the standards mentioned in the ILO, to be compliant for our buyers. We care for the level of quality that we can produce, so compliance is a major topic for us. We have a lot of activities on spreading awareness for the protection of the environment; we do not use toxic chemicals in our products and neither employ child labour.
AR: Looking ahead, what is the strategy for growth?
N. D. Truong: We look forward to the buyers and the suppliers colluding here so that they can collaboratively build the Vietnamese textile and apparel industry stronger in the future. We are expecting a growth rate of about 10 per cent and have a goal of exports worth US $ 30 billion by the end of next year.
