Turnover of Garment and textile industry
Ha Noi, Jan. 5 (VNA) -- Viet Nam's garment and textile industry plans to earn USD 2.3 billion from export products in 2001.
The industry has registered an average annual growth rate of more than 10 percent in recent years. It posted an export value of USD 1.87 million in 2000, an increase of 6 percent over 1999.
Currently, the industry is focusing its efforts on overcoming difficulties and challenges to integrate into the regional and international economies.
Viet Nam presently has more than 1,000 textile mills which employ around 500,000 workers, accounting for 22 percent of the labour force of the whole industrial sector.
Almost all these mills are small size and have obsolete equipment. Although the industry has constantly expanded production and renewed equipment,it has failed to meet the increasing demand for export.
Moreover, the industry's products have to compete in quality and prices with products from big exporters including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea (RoK). Particularly, import tax for garments and textiles from ASEAN countries will be reduced to 5 percent from January 1, 2006 from 40-50 percent at present.
The industry's major outstanding problem is that about 70 percent of the total garment and textile export value have been implemented under sub-contracts from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the RoK.
To improve the situation, the industry has worked out four major solutions for developing production and increasing exports while awaiting an approval of the development strategy until 2010 by the Government.
The industry will renovate technology, improve product quality and lower production costs with a view to increasing the competitiveness of its products in domestic and foreign markets. It will also invest in upgrading facilities in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City and expanding the garment-making network in all provinces and cities nationwide.
Apart from locating new mills in ten textile industrial clusters, the industry will develop cotton growing areas in the Central Highlands, Southern Trung Bo and Eastern Nam Bo. Another solution is to boost the industry's marketing activities, build wholesale and retail sale networks nationwide, expand foreign outlets, apply new trading methods including e-commerce, and increase personnel training.
The industry plans to train 55,000 more engineers and managers for expanded investment programmes in the next ten years.--VNA
