Vietnam is looking for cooperation with Thailand in the areas of textiles, design and administration.
Vietnam has the skills and ability to become an apparel production hub for international buyers, but it lacks upstream and midstream channels. Thailand’s textile and garment industry, on the other hand, has an entire supply chain cycle from upstream to downstream, from yarn manufacturing to apparel manufacturing. It also includes fashion design.

Therefore, establishing a fully vertical integrated supply chain between Thailand and Vietnam will help the countries sustain their competitiveness.

Trade turnover between the two countries totaled ten billion dollars last year, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 per cent.

Last year, Vietnam earned 76 million dollars from yarn exports to Thailand and spent 194 million dollars on importing fabric from the country.

The co-operation of the two sides would also help the industry better exploit the Asean market of 600 million people, when the Asean Economic Community becomes effective by the end of the year.

With increasing costs in China, as well as competitiveness with other industries, many garment and textile producers have shifted their production base to Asean countries, including Vietnam.

Vietnam has signed, and is negotiating, a number of free trade agreements. Thai enterprises want to enhance co-operation with Vietnamese firms to produce fabric and materials in Vietnam to take advantages of benefits brought from trade agreements.