Despite positive results in the first half the year, Vietnam’s garment and textile exports are likely to encounter a host of challenges in terms of market and supply chain in the second half, said Vu Duc Giang, Chairman, Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) at a seminar organized in collaboration with the Cotton USA. Vietnam’s textile and garment exports will grow 23 per cent Y-o-Y to $22 million with FTAs including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CTPP), Giang says. This has boosted the domestic industry over the past five years with its regulations on product origin, he said.

Vietnam exported $5.6 billion worth of yarn last year and $3 billion in the first half of this year as investments in new technologies and digital management The sector has also shifted towards green energy and water resources, thus better meeting international standards and winning confidence of customers, Giang added.

However, escalating inflation in the US and Europe would affect orders in the third and fourth quarters of the year. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with surging oil and gas prices and transportation costs, would also push up production prices, Giang noted.

Than Duc Viet, General Director, Garment 10 Corporation added, the adverse impact of COVID-19 can be seen in the disruption of supply chain and logistics services. Given this, domestic enterprises said they have kept a close watch on the market to adjust their production plans, diversified material supplies, and sought new clients to maintain production.

The ITM 2022 Exhibition achieved sales worth €1.5 billion in 5 days with innovations in weaving, knitting, yarns, digital printing, finishing to denim sold in large numbers. Organized by Teknik Fairs in partnership withTüyap Tüm Fuarcilik Yapim, ITM 2022, was held at Tüyap Fair and Congress Centre between June 14-18, 2022. The fair was held in 12 halls spread across on 120,000 sq. mt. and was attended by 1,280 companies and company representatives from 65 countries. Visitors included 64,500 people from 102 countries, consisting of 44 per cent international and 56 per cent domestic visitors. The fair generated a business volume of over €1.5 billion.

Due to Istanbul's ease of transportation and the absence of visa requirements, ITM 2022 Exhibition hosted thousands of visitors from all over the world. The ITM and Hightex Exhibitions will be held in Istanbul from June 4-8, 2024.

Twenty one national and regional fashion councils from 18 countries around Europe are collaborating to launch the European Fashion Alliance. As per a Women Wear Daily report, the councils include Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, founded in 1958, with around 150 members today, and France’s Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, founded in 1973, now with around 100 members.

The alliance also includes smaller organizations like the Bulgarian Fashion Association that promotes and networks designers from the Eastern European nation. The president of the alliance will be selected on a rotating basis. It will also have prescribed minimum standards for members to join the alliance, and will be funded just like the European Union with each member paying a share depending on their size and national budget.

One of the alliance’s objectives is to represent the European fashion industry at the EU government level. Additionally, the alliance will likely have the opportunity to advise on where money could best be spent. In the latest six-year EU budget for 2021 to 2027, funding for culture and the creative industries increased by 50 per cent over the last six-year budget and now totals €2.44 billion.

Besides political advocacy, the European Fashion Alliance also plans to meet around certain subjects such as, for example, craft, innovation, best practices and national specializations, as well as to encourage cross-border projects and more networking.

Faruque Hassan, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) says, a duty-free access to the Russian market will provide it a great opportunities to strengthen ties with the nation. Bangladesh can also provide Russian consumers quality goods at competitive rates, he adds.

Currently, clothes made in Bangladesh faces 5 to 20 per cent customs duty in Russia. Ttrade between the two countries faces some banking related difficulties. Hassan says, they aim to identify these barriers and resolve them. Habib Ullah Dawn, President, Commonwealth of Independent States-Bangladesh Chamber of Industry affirms, Bangladesh has signed an MoU with the Eurasian Economic Union, to facilitate a free trade agreement.

Duty-free access to Russia will enable Bangladeshi exporters to explore Russian-led Eastern European economic union markets comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan besides opening the markets of the Commonwealth of Independent States as well, he adds. At present, CIS units: are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

In fiscal 2020-21, Bangladesh's total export to Russia totalled $665.32 million and import from Russia amounted to $481.88 million. So, bilateral trade was worth only $1.1 billion. Readymade garments constitute around 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s total exports to Russia. In FY21, Bangladesh exports apparels worth $593.66 million to Russia, which can be increased further, he opines.