Export revenues of Vietnam’s textile and garment sector increased 8.61 per cent in the first six months of this year over the same period in 2018. Vietnam’s total export revenue to the US was up 12.84 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. The US is the biggest market for Vietnamese textiles and garments. It accounts for 46.9 per cent of Vietnam’s total export revenue of textiles and garments.

However the country’s textile and apparel firms are facing a shortage of orders. Their orders are just 70 per cent that of 2018. The main reason for the reduction in number of orders include higher and more demanding requirements from buyers, pressure on reducing prices and increasing trade barriers such as import tariffs and quality inspection, among others. The country’s textile and garment sector has grown less than nine per cent in the first half of this year, requiring the sector to expand by 11 per cent to12 per cent to fulfill the export turnover target for 2019.

Vietnam attracted $700 million worth of foreign direct investments in 63 garment and textile projects in the first five months of this year, including 17 Chinese-invested projects, and 12 Korean-invested projects.