Regional Economy: Focus On Vietnam'S Textile Export Of $39 Billion In 2021

After the last quarter of 2021, the total export value of Vietnam's textile industry reached 39 billion US dollars, an annual increase of 11.2%. Vietnam's textile industry performed well in 2021, but its market share remained stagnant, said letien Truong, chairman of VINATEX. In the main export markets of Vietnam's textile industry, except for the obvious growth of exports to the United States, the recovery of other export markets is slow, even lower than that in 2020.

In 2022, Vietnam's textile industry is expected to face three challenges in the short term, including transportation costs three times higher than in recent five years; Vietnam's textile industry lost its competitive advantage due to the disadvantage of exchange rate; And labor imbalance, especially in the southern part of Vietnam, which accounts for 40% of the total export value of the textile industry, is seriously short of work.

In the long run, President Li analyzed that Vietnam's textile industry will also face the challenge of green development from competitors. The development target of China's textile industry by 2025 is set at 30% of the global market share (down from 39%), with the highest profit concentration, such as recycled material market, especially recycled polyester fiber; Bangladesh's textile and yarn industry is developing towards the most modern direction, focusing on improving quality rather than production efficiency. For example, nine of the 10 green textile factories certified as the highest standards by the US Green Building Council in 2021 are located in Bangladesh; India, with its own raw material orientation, especially cotton yarn, will be the main competitor of Vietnam's yarn industry.

President Li believes that green and sustainable development has become a global trend in the textile industry. Vietnam needs to re-examine the key development direction of the country's textile industry to avoid falling behind competitors. At the same time, it needs to capture labor resources and overcome the lack of high-quality management. In particular, Vietnam is about to face the risk of population aging. From 2035, it is estimated that 1 million Vietnamese people will exceed the working age every year; In order to achieve the work efficiency required by large-scale orders, it is necessary to avoid decentralized production unit investment and promote digital transformation and automation development.