Global Perspective: Vietnam'S Textile And Garment Industry Strives To Overcome Difficulties And Achieve Sustainable Development

Photos from Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam News Agency, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's textile and garment industry is promoting green and clean standards with sustainable development as its orientation. Textile enterprises are actively changing the supply of raw materials to meet the needs of the industry, the market and global consumers.

Vietnam's textile and clothing industry imports more than 4 billion US dollars of various cotton materials every year, said Wu Dejiang, President of Vietnam textile and Garment Association (vitas), in an interview with Vietnam News Agency reporters. Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam's textile and clothing industry has imported more than 3 billion US dollars of cotton.

At present, with the change of consumers' hobbies and the supply trend of raw materials in the global market, the raw materials of Vietnam's textile and garment industry have begun to undergo structural transformation, among which the most prominent trend is to give priority to the use of renewable environmental protection materials.

In the context of Vietnam's accession to a series of new generation free trade agreements (FTA), the textile and garment industry must comply with higher requirements of the supply chain from raw materials to finished products.

According to Wu Dejiang, the United States currently accounts for more than 50% of Vietnam's cotton imports. The main reason is that the origin traceability mechanism of cotton materials in this market is transparent, and the quality and supply source are stable.

Wu Mengxiong, representative of the American Cotton Association (CCI) in Vietnam, said thousands of US imports of textiles and clothing were detained by the country's customs in 2022. The use of American cotton in Vietnam can avoid the obstacles of relevant regulations.

From now to the end of the year, Vietnam's textile and clothing industry is still affected by inflation and economic recession. In the second half of 2022, the exchange rate of US dollar against Vietnam will still decline, which will have a negative impact on enterprises.

According to the report of Vietnam textile and Garment Association, Vietnam's textile and garment industry is facing many difficulties in the third quarter of 2022, but the export volume in the first September of 2022 will still reach 35 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of about 21%. This shows that Vietnam's textile and garment industry timely adapts to the global market development and flexibly adjusts its production and operation strategies.

Export swimsuit production line. Picture from Vietnam News Agency

Industry experts believe that Vietnam's textile and garment industry has rapidly shifted from traditional export markets such as the United States and Europe to new markets such as Russia and Mexico. In the European market, Vietnam's textile and clothing industry only focused on Germany, France, Spain, Britain and other major markets, but now Vietnam's textile and clothing exports have expanded to 26 of the 27 countries in the region.

In addition, Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises are increasing investment in technology and automation to meet the changing market demand. At the same time, enterprises are also constantly promoting structural adjustment, implementing international business model and actively exploring new markets.

In the fourth quarter of 2022 and even the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam's textile and garment industry is still facing some difficulties and challenges. However, due to the preferential export tariffs from the Vietnam Europe free trade agreement (evfta) in 2023, enterprises are still full of expectations for the development of the industry. (end)